It's baseball season. Not just in Japan. Not just in China, Mexico, or another country that isn't spelled A-M-E-R-I-C-A. It's baseball season here, and that's exciting. That's not to say that I object to teams playing regular season games overseas, because I don't. It just makes me a little jealous. But it also makes me feel quite comforted to know that after a tumultuous offseason, the next 7 months will be about walk-offs and wild pitches, not steroids and subpoenas (that said, I did just buy Jose Canseco's new book, although I haven't started reading it yet).Among today's 14 games, we'll see Johan Santana's New York Mets debut, Erik Bedard's Seattle Mariners debut, Joe Torre's Los Angeles Dodgers debut, and Joe Girardi's New York Yankees debut (along with the last-ever home opener at Yankee Stadium). There are potential pitchers' duels between Brandon Webb and Aaron Harang in Cinncinnati, Roy Oswalt and Jake Peavy in San Diego, and Ben Sheets and Carlos Zambrano in Chicago. We'll get a first look at the new-look, high-octane Detroit offense. And if last night's US opener (complete with a new ballpark, Presidential first-pitch, and walk-off homerun) is any indicator, this season is going to be another memorable one.
Now that every team except for the Padres and Giants have played their first game, I want to look back at Opening Night/Day and reflect on some remarkable performances. But I want to do so with the caveat that like always, everyone puts way too much stock in the first game of a 162-game season. This isn't the NFL where you play 16 times and each game is huge. No, this is a marathon, not a sprint. And your favorite team's game on August 17th and all stats accumulated therein is worth just as much as yesterday's win or loss, strikeout or home run.
So here are a few headlines from the last two days...
1. Yankees Win Ugly
While one of my readers likes to remind me that his team is on a pace to go 162-0 this season, I seriously doubt that will happen. And if yesterday's starting pitching performance is any indicator, this team will need to score a lot of runs (as they did yesterday) and play better defense (like they didn't do yesterday) to win even 90 games.
2. Red Sox Lose Ugly
What was the bigger shocker? The fact that Kansas City got 7 runs and 12 hits off 6 Boston pitchers? Or the fact that two Royals hurlers held the Sox to a run on 8 hits, including 6 singles? It's a coin flip as far as I'm concerned. But I don't expect it to continue. However, they need Schilling and Beckett to anchor the staff, so Wednesday's game may have a few Red Sox fans anxiously awaiting JB's '07 debut.
3. Dominating Pitching Performances
Tom Glavine, about the only sure thing on the Mets staff so far, threw 6 economical innings Sunday night, beating the defending champs, 6-1. Then Monday, Felix Hernandez (8 IP, 3 hits, 0 earned, 12 K), Ben Sheets (9 IP, 2 hits, 1 earned), Gil Meche (7.1 IP, 6 hits, 1 earned, 6 K) and Aaron Harang (7 IP, 6 hits, 0 earned) one-upped him. Tonight's pitchers to watch include Jake Peavy, Barry Zito and Daniel Cabrera.
4. Hot Hitting Early
Adam Dunn and Edgar Renteria left the yard twice, Hanley Ramirez had 4 hits and scored 4 times, Miguel Cabrera had 4 RBI and a handful of other players (mostly on the Indians and Yankees) had at least 3 hits, runs scored or RBI. Can't say I'm surprised, except maybe for Renteria.
5. Struggling Studs
Johan Santana, Chris Carpenter, Brandon Webb, Carlos Zambrano, John Patterson, Scott Kazmir, and Erik Bedard all had outings to forget. But don't worry, they'll all be fine. Probably.
It's baseball season. 
