It hasn't sunk in yet that the season has begun. No matter, it is awesome to follow. The intensity every night and the great thing about it is that all the teams play so often. Also, it's not written. No disrespect to MJ's Bulls (a sin, I tell you), but you kind of knew the other team had no chance if they were playing at the United Center unless it was the Lakers or something. As the Pirates proved by ruining Opening Day at Busch Stadium as rookie closer Jason Motte blew a save, anyone can pull off a win. I couldn't stop smiling as C.C. Sabathia struggled mightily in the season opener against the Orioles. Anyway, Cubs fans will be happy with the result thus far. A hard-fought 4-2 on Opening Day featured Alfonso Soriano (above) with a leadoff homer and Aramis Ramirez added his own a few batters later in Houston. A tough game on Tuesday night saw the Astros win it on a walk-off single by a brand new Astro, Jeff Keppinger. A blowout ensued on Wednesday night featuring a Mike Fontenot 3-run homer. The Braves pulled off two impressive wins over the defending champs before a bullpen disaster got the Phillies their first win.
On a sad note, everyone should keep Angels pitcher Rick Adenhart in their thoughts or prayers after he was killed by a drunk driver early this morning. The sad thing was that he was only 22, he was the Angels' top prospect, and he had just pitched the last night going six strong innings against the A's. Just like after the death of Cardinals reliever Josh Hancock, the game Thursday night has been postponed.
The drama and surprises in this game are amazing. Who would have thought that the Orioles would have taken the first two from the Yankees? Or the Royals taking two from the White Sox? How about the Blue Jays taking three of four from the Tigers despite fans throwing balls and trash at the Tigers in the opener? A note on that: Fans in the outfield at the packed Rogers Centre on Opening Day in Toronto threw a baseball at Curtis Granderson playing center field for the Tigers and trash came down, too. Jim Leyland pulled his team off the field. Some people thought that it might even have been a Tigers fan who threw the stuff, disgusted on how the team has failed expectations the last two years. The punishment is on the fans: Rogers Centre is going dry for a few games.
My fantasy team is doing awesome. Carlos Lee, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Gomez, Miguel Cabrera, Miguel Tejada, Ryan Theriot, Brandon Phillips, Roy Oswalt, Francisco Liriano, Ramon Hernandez, Aramis Ramirez, Magglio Ordonez, Coco Crisp, Joakim Soria, Josh Beckett, Brian Wilson, Manny Corpas, Yovani Gallardo, Javier Vazquez, Melvin Mora, and Garrett Atkins make up my team. They had a fantastic day on Thursday.
Are you like me and you can't get enough baseball? Or do you just want to follow a bit? Either way, make sure you check out the new MLB Network, who aired their first regular season game in channel history tonight in a 7-1 Giants win over the Brewers in San Francisco. They have a live studio show during all of the games with highlights, press conferences, topics of discussion, whatever. They are new for the '09 season and it is great. If you don't know what channel it is at your home, head to mlbnetwork.com to find out. There is a channel locator on the home page.
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