Musings from Opening day

By John Gottlieb
The Phanatic Magazine

Thanks to ESPN, YES Network, and TBS I need a break after watching six baseball games on the first day of the season. One down, 161 to go. It's nice to see false hope and optimism abound from so many teams.

Is it me or does Adam Dunn hit two homers every year on Opening Day? You'd think that pitchers like Carlos Zambrano would know to be a little more crafty than fastballs to a dead-fastball hitter. Dunn has three Opening Day homers off Zambrano alone. It'll take a month, and 10 Dunn homers, before the rest of baseball starts killing him with stuff out of the zone.

How impatient are Yankee fans? A-Rod gets cheered when he was announced, but boots a pop-up and strikes out in the first and gets booed each time. Give the guy a break. I'm all for booing A-Rod, but can you wait a month. However, he was the life of the party with a two-run shot in the eighth. He finished 2-for-5 with two runs, two RBI, and a stolen base. All is good in the Bronx with Rodriguez...until Wednesday.

This is going to be another long season for Brad Lidge.

Maybe the Royals weren't so crazy after all in giving Gil Meche $55 million. If he could just pitch everyday Kansas City may win the AL Central. Who even knew that that many people still cared about the Royals? Kauffman Stadium was packed. Too bad the Royals will go back to drawing 15,000 a game by next week.

Johan Santana may never lose at home ever again.

Ben Sheets threw a complete game for the upstart Brewers. Don't get used to that. Milwaukee's playoff hopes rest on his all too fragile arm.

It looks like Felix the Cat is ready to move past his sophomore slump. He very well could be the lone bright spot for the Mariners, who have a franchise-high $112 million payroll. He threw eight innings, striking out 12 with four hits and no runs. That's the way to start a season.

Then there's Jose Contreras. That's not the pitcher we're used to seeing in Chicago. He couldn't even record an out in the second inning. He gave up eight runs -- seven earned -- in just 48 pitches.

The Tribe faithful are already chanting M-V-P when Grady Sizemore comes to the plate.

If the Braves' offseason bullpen acquisitions can stay healthy then they'll surpass the Phillies and stick with the Mets for the whole campaign. It appears that Jimmy Rollins isn't the only shortstop that can hit in that bandbox.

The countdown is on for Craig Biggio (69 away from 3,000 hits), Tom Glavine (nine wins away from 300), and Barry Bonds, who'll take his whacks at Jake Peavy today to pull closer to Hammerin' Hank in the season opener for he Giants and Padres. He needs 22 long balls to hold the most sacred record in all of sports.

Never have more than two players joined the 500-homer club in one season. This year could bring five new members. While Frank Thomas (487), Jim Thome (472), Manny Ramirez (470) and Alex Rodriguez are just about in, Gary Sheffield (455) will be on the outside looking in.

Nobody cares that Sammy Sosa (588) is on the doorstep of 600, but a fantastic season from Griffey Junior (563) could join him with elite company.

Juan Pierre and Luis Gonzalez combined to go 0-for-7 in their first contest with the Dodgers, but Adam LaRoche was 0-for-5 with the golden sombrero in his debut for the Pirates. Ouch!

Nobody was better then Meche in the first outing with his new team. He lasted 7 1/3 innings, allowing six hits, one run, a walk, and six strikeouts. Former Red Sox outfielder Trot Nixon was also impressive in his debut with Cleveland, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a walk.

The greatest sports day of the year has now come and gone, and we've got six months of baseball to look forward to. There is no better month in sports than April. College basketball is now done, thankfully the NHL and NBA aren't too far behind, and a tradition unlike any other is about to begin (why don't we just give the Green Jacket to Tiger). It only gets better from here.