Diary of a Mighty Bastard: March 2026

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Major League Baseball Predictions- 2026

Predicting the order, not the record. As always, remember these are pure guesses from a casual fan who really doesn't know what he's talking about.

Meet the new boss... same as the old boss

American League:

East:
1. New York Yankees
2. Toronto Blue Jays (Wild Card)

3. Boston Red Sox (Wild Card)

4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Tampa Bay Rays

Central:
1. Kansas City Royals

2. Detroit Tigers
3. Cleveland Guardians

4. Minnesota Twins
5. Chicago White Sox

West:

1. Seattle Mariners

2. Texas Ranger (Wild Card)

3. Houston Astros

4. Sacramento Atheltics

5. Los Angles Angles

Playoffs:
- Texas over Kansas City

- Toronto over Boston

- Seattle over Toronto

- Texas over New York Yankees

- Seattle over Texas

National League:

East:
1. Philadelphia Phillies

2. New York Mets (Wild Card)
3. Atlanta Braves (Wild Card)
4. Washington Nationals
5. Miami Marlins

Central:
1. Milwaukee Brewers
2. Chicago Cubs (Wild Card)
3. Cincinnati Reds
4. St. Louis Cardinals
5. Pittsburgh Pirates

West:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

2. San Diego Padres

3. Arizona Diamondbacks

4. San Francisco Giants

5. Colorado Rockies

Playoffs:
- Atlanta over Chicago Cubs

- New York Mets over Milwaukee

- Philadelphia over Atlanta

- Los Angeles Dodgers over New York Mets

- Los Angeles Dodgers over Atlanta

World Series:

Dodgers over Seattle, 4 games to 2.

At least Seattle makes the World Series, finally.

I said that the Dodgers could win five World Series in a row. They've won two so far; might as well keep the streak going.

There's not that much shakeup in the predictions from last year, because I don't see the teams making any significant moves. The teams that invested the most were already the top contenders.

If you liked the 2025 Major League Baseball Season, you'll love the sequel.

Friday, March 20, 2026

Taskmaster Retrospective: UK Series 05

The fifth series- if watching spectacular failure is your bag, this is the season for you.

Taskmaster: UK Series 5

Year: 2017

Channel: Dave

Contestants:

Number of Episodes: 8

Notes:

Series 5 is eight episodes of very funny but terrible players. . Nish Kumar sets a new standard for 'loveable loser' (and Greg plays it up, verbally taunting him on his performance), but Mark and Aisling also are enjoyable car wrecks. The show plays up Alex and Mark Watson's long friendship, usually to Mark's detriment (the solo task assigned only to him is brilliant). Sally Phillips is slightly weird, playing herself up as sex-deprived, and very competent. And Bob Mortimer is very competent and just wonderfully weird.

It's not a good season if you like to see how clever the players are. It's a great season if you like to see Greg taunting the other players (and Alex) all season long.

Portrait Decor:

Series 5 portait was based off Rene Magritte, and the portrait of Greg has a pineapple in front of his face, based off the painting The Son of Man...

Best task of the season:

"Write and perform a song about this woman." The overall theme of season 5 has been how badly Nish Kumar has been at tasks, and the epic failures of Mark Watson (who is not bad all the time- but he screws up, it's hysterically blatant. So having the final house task have both of them do a brilliant job is a standout moment.

Worst task of the season:

"With this camera strapped to your head, record the most incredible footage." A little too long, too many of the contestants think 'disturbing' equals ''incredble', a side discussion on Bob's toilet habits is distgusting, and Nish is so awful that Greg openly asks if he is sabotaging the tasks.

Trivia:

* The reoccuring remote location for the season was at Frensham Great Pond

* Two contestants did not win a single episode, the only time this has happened

* Some seasons have a continuous reference to a prop- in this season, it's coconuts.

Contestant Rankings:

Mel Giedroyc (Season 4)
Bob Mortimer (Season 5)
Hugh Dennis (Season 4)
Noel Fielding (Season 4)
Richard Osman (Season 2)
Nish Kumar (Season 5)
Katherine Ryan (Season 2)
Tim Key (Season 1)
Sally Phillips (Season 5)
Al Murray (season 3)

Season Ranking:

Season 4
Season 5
Season 2
Season 1
Season 3

Friday, March 6, 2026

Taskmaster Retrospective: UK Series 04

The fourth series- and the first great series

Taskmaster: UK Series 4

Year: 2017

Channel: Dave

Contestants:

Number of Episodes: 8

Notes:

As the show became more popular, Taskmaster grew, increasing from 5 episodes in series 3 to 8 in series 4.

By this point, the series has locked in the format, so what separate the good series from the great series are two factors- the tasks and the casts. The tasks get a little more creative and there are a lot of art-based tasks in the series. But the cast for series 4 is absolutely brilliant (tm Mel Giedroyc).

Noel Fielding is wonderful and weird, and you never know what he comes up with. Joe Lycett is snarky throughout the series. Lolly (the youngest contestant on the adult show) is cheery and every once in a while shows flashes of extreme competitiveness. Hugh Dennis plays deadpan, but is very thoughtful and clever in the tasks (and is absolutely dreadful on the prize tasks, a running joke in the series). And Mel Giedroyc is so happy and bubbly that it infects the entire series (and causes the show to create special tasks just for her).

It's a great cast, both interacting with each other and with Greg and Alex. And the show jumps a level with this group.

Portrait Decor:

Series 4 went with a Vincent van Gogh theme, with a self-portrait of the Taskmaster behind the desk

Best task of the season:

"Make the most exotic sandwich." Rule of thumb- never trust Taskmaster. They don't lie, but any time a task seems too easy, expect a twist

Worst task of the season:

"Work out what's in the sleeping bag. You may not look inside the sleeping bag. You may not take items out of the sleeping bag." There wasn't a bad task the entire series. This one was unfair, because there wasn't a good way to figure out the items- though we did have a fair argument over what 'take items out' mean.

Trivia:

* For the first time, the series had a reoccuring location for some of the tasks, at the Chesham United Football Club

* The caravan makes it's first appearance in the show on Episode 1.

* Mel Giedroyc collects the wax seals with every task.

* Episode 7 has the first ever three way tie for the episode.