It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

What can you glean from 10 games of the Major League Baseball season?

Not much.

Ten games is nothing — it’s a mere 1/16th of the season. It’s the equivalent of one game of an NFL campaign. It’s like watching the first 15 minutes of a movie and deciding if it stinks or not. It’s like listening to the first five seconds on a song and trying to decide if you love it or loathe it.

But that’s human nature. We love to break the glass over the panic button when a team gets off to a slow start, and we love to get all giddy when a team jumps out to a fast one.

Take Red Sox Nation.

The Nation is all in a tizzy over the Sawx and their dreadful 2-8 start.

Paul Revere is riding through the streets screaming “the hits aren’t coming! The hits aren’t coming!”

Angry fans are dumping Fenway Franks into the Boston Harbor.

It’s getting ugly in Beantown these days. But, guess what, a slow start isn’t unusual for the Sox.

Boston was 4-6 through 10 games the last two seasons.

Oakland was in first place through 10 games last season. So was Toronto.

How’d that work out for those two clubs?

Cleveland is 8-2 this season. Does anyone think for a minute that the Indians will end up there 152 games from now?

Baltimore is in first place. So is Colorado. I’m sure few believe that will be the case in October.

And even in our own back yard, people are a buzz over the young Bucs in Pittsburgh.

Sure, there is a lot to be excited about. The young lineup with budding future stars is producing. The pitching staff has been surprisingly decent.

But the Pirates are sitting at 5-5 through 10 games.

Care to guess what the Buccos’ record was at this point last season on the way to 105 losses? Yes, 5-5.

It’s simply way too early to make any kind of assumptions about the 2011 baseball season.

There are some exceptions, however:

• Josh Hamilton will, er, has gotten hurt.

As I wrote that, I discovered the Texas outfielder will be out at least six weeks with a broken arm.

• Ichiro will end up with 200 hits.

The dude is getting old, but his act hasn’t. Ichiro is a base hit machine. Barring an injury — he’s only been on the disabled list once in his career and that was because of a bleeding ulcer (talk about tough) — he’ll notch his 11th consecutive 200-hit season.

• Manny will be Manny.

And he will be Manny at home, a sad end to a career that could have been recognized as one of the best in MLB history. Ramirez ruined his legacy by faking injury and (allegedly) taking PEDs. He let his team(s) down with his antics. There is no excuse for that.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.