Opening Day Baseball Wrap

The Yankees started the season with a miserable move. Ignore the fact that I spent a nice sum of money to travel two hours to get to see the final Opening Day in the original House that Ruth Built. Also ignore the fact that my dad decided to skip work to go, and that we managed to leave Upstate and get to the Bronx with plenty of time to spare. In short, ignore how the setup was absolutely perfect.

But do not ignore that rain had been in the forecast for days, and that it was predicted to be on-and-off showers. Also don't ignore that the Yankees had played in worse, and postponing Opening Day isn't the same as calling off some meaningless game against the Royals in June. And with that in mind, why did they wait 90 minutes to make the call? Why did they wait until it cleared up, at that? Ridiculous. The Cubs and Cards both had poor weather, but at least they tried to push on. I'm convinced that Opening Day would have happened at Yankee Stadium today if there wasn't an off day tomorrow.

And the best part? We stuck around in the Bronx until 5:30, and no rain had come. I could have told them that. I suggest the grounds crew stop using Weatherbug.

But elsewhere, baseball did manage to get started. Some highlights:

> In Minnesota, the Twins, led by rookie center fielder Carlos Gomez, played the running game against the Angels to victory. Talk about role reversal. Gomez immediately won the hearts of Twins fans nationwide, going 2-3 with 2 runs and 2 stolen bases. Livan Hernandez took care of his job, posting a line of 7IP, 7H, and 2ER for the win. Torii Hunter received many a warm welcome form his former home crowd but was held hitless by his old team. Oh, and Pat Neshek and Joe Nathan are still nasty. There may not be many good days for the Twins this season, but their opener was definitely a step in the right direction.

> The Mets beat the Marlins. But are we surprised? Johan Santana started. Interesting to note is that Johan's line was 7IP, 3H, and 2ER, which makes his performance look nearly identical to that of his replacement's back in the Metrodome. This is the only time in the season when they'll be comparable.

> How did the Detroit Tigers, the 2008 World Series champions, fare? They lost in extra innings to the Royals. There goes that 162-0. Sorry, ESPN.

> Things got interesting at Wrigley. Kosuke Fukudome, the first Japanese player to wear the Cubs uniform, took the first pitch he saw from Ben Sheets off the ivy for a double. Then, after Kerry Wood allowed the first runs in the game (3) in his relief stint in the top of the 9th, Fukodome saved the day by blasting a 3-run shot. Off of Eric Gagne--some things never change. Needless to say, "the new guy" became instantly popular with the fans. Yet, alas, the Cubs still managed to lose to the Brewers in extras.

> Joe Torre's Dodgers won against the Giants today, but that doesn't mean much when you realize they're the 2008 Giants. Barry Zito went for six innings, giving up 4ER and a whooping 8H...and he's their ace. Too bad he's stuck in San Fran for 7 years--Scott Boras is laughing right now.

> The Pirates and Braves took it to the 12th. Why not jump into intense (or sloppy) baseball as soon as possible?