Tigers Over-Under Contest is back! Deadline to enter is April 8

Victor Martinez (Getty Images)

The grass is greening, the chill in the air is suddenly bearable, $9 beers are back!

The baseball season arrives this week — Thursday for the Tigers, who open against CC Sabathia and Yankees in New York.

Also returning this week is The Detroit News Tigers Over-Under Contest. Last year, Livonia’s Grant Dossetto beat out 154 other Tigers fans, and took home a pretty sweet prize. This year, it could be you!

It’s so simple to enter. Just follow this link, and make your over-under picks on 35 prop bets, created by yours truly. Be sure to leave your name, number, e-mail address, and your prediction for the Tigers’ 2011 record (that’s the tiebreaker). The deadline to enter is noon Friday, April 8, Opening Day in Detroit.

Again this year, winners will be rewarded with baseball-related prizes. (We won’t disappoint you!) The more entries, the more prizes we’ll hand out. Let’s try to pass last year’s impressive first-year total, eh?

Here are your 2011 Tigers props:

• Joaquin Benoit, hits per inning pitch: 0.80
• Phil Coke, average innings per start: 5.67
• Enrique Gonzalez, emergency starts: 3.5
• Brad Penny, starts before All-Star break: 11.5
• Ryan Perry, strikeouts: 51.5
• Rick Porcello, opponents’ batting average: .275
• Max Scherzer, finish in Cy Young voting: 6.5 (under is sixth or better)
• Daniel Schlereth, left-handers’ batting average against: .265
• Brad Thomas, team rank in relief appearances: 1.5 (under is first)
• Jose Valverde, blown saves: 5.5
• Justin Verlander, wins: 18.5
• Brayan Villarreal, months in major leagues: 3.0
• Joel Zumaya, relief appearances: 24.5
• Alex AVila, at-bats against left-handers: 52.5
• Victor Martinez, home runs at Comerica Park: 7.5
• Miguel Cabrera, finish in MVP voting: 2.5 (under is second or better)
• Carlos Guillen, games started at second base: 31.5
• Brandon Inge, total doubles and home runs: 40.5
• Jhonny Peralta, batting average at Comerica Park: .249
• Will Rhymes, Twitter followers by season’s end: 10,350.5
• Ramon Santiago, batting average right-handed: .289
• Brennan Boesch, team rank in home runs: 2.5 (under is second or better)
• Austin Jackson, at-bats per strikeout: 3.96
• Don Kelly, games started: 47.5
• Magglio Ordonez, total home runs and RBIs: 109.5
• Ryan Raburn, plate appearances: 450.5
• Casper Wells, batting average, between Toledo and Detroit: .299
• Scott Sizemore, callup date: May 3 (under is before May 3)
• Danny Worth, errors in major leagues: 2.5
• Andy Dirks, batting average in major leagues: .285
• Andy Oliver, callup date: June 30 (under is before June 30)
• Jacob Turner, callup date: Sept. 1 (under is before Sept. 1)
• Jim Leyland, ejections: 3.5
• Johnny Damon, on-base percentage with Rays: .360
• Gerald Laird, home runs with Cardinals: 4.5

Again, deadline is noon April 8. And again, here’s the link.