Opening Day

What a beginning to the 2010 MLB season! After the long winter wait, the off-season maneuvers, the Spring Training games, and the fantasy baseball drafts, baseball has finally returned. And when all the smoke cleared from the fireworks, and the huge flags were taken off the field, a chest-protected gentleman said "Play ball", and I was delighted again. And what better way to start the season than with the best rivalry in all of sports; the New York Yankees vs the Boston Red Sox.
Sunday night played host to a great game between these two teams. The Yanks jumped out to an early lead, but the Sawks kept coming back, as they always do. Behind clutch hitting by Kevin Youkilis, who I learned from YES Network was called "The Greek God of Walks" in the minors (great nickname!), the Sox battled to take the lead and the opening game of the season. And even though Boston didn't actually play on Opening Day, they still managed to make the news on Monday by signing pitcher Josh Beckett to a 4-year, $68 million extension, taking one of the best players off next year's free-agent list.
But so, so much more happened on Opening Day. New faces in new places had some major impacts yesterday. Atlanta Braves rookie outfielder Jason Heyward not only had the great honor of catching the first pitch from baseball legend Hank Aaron, but he also electrified the crowd by jacking a 3-run homerun in his first Major League at-bat. Five other runs were scored against Carlos Zambrano in the first inning and 1/3, forcing Big Z out in the second. The pounding didn't stop though, and the Braves crushed the Chicago Cubs 16-5. The Philadelphia Phillies certainly took notice, but not too much, because they were busy watching their newly acquired ace Roy Halladay burn through the Washington Nationals' lineup. Third-baseman Placido Palanco, returning to the Phils, hit a grand slam, producing some Philly offense of his own. And New York Metropolitan Jason Bay helped his new/old team to victory against the Florida Marlins with a triple, providing enough offense to give Johan Santana his fourth consecutive Opening Day win.
Seattle Mariners' new second-baseman Chone Figgins sparked his new team with two stolen bases as the M's bested the Oakland Athletics. The A's committed four errors, and new ace Ben Sheets walked four batters, helping the M's to victory. Hideki Matsui also made a splash in the A.L. West yesterday as he brought the Japanese news media, and some clutch hitting to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He had a dinger as the Angels offense proved too much for the Minnesota Twins. New S.F. Giant Mark DeRosa also hit one out of the park as ace Tim Lincecum outpitched Roy Oswalt and the Houston Astros in Roy's 8th Opening Day start. And Jim Edmonds made his return to the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers, but couldn't stop Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez from being dominate for most of the day. The Rockies won thanks in large part to a 4 for 5 day from outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. Brewers' new outfielder Carols Gomez also had a 4-5 day, with a homerun, but it just wasn't enough to top Colorado.
It wasn't all new-comers doing the damage yesterday. Albert Pujols reminded everyone why he in the reigning MVP by jacking two homeruns on Opening Day for the second time in his career. Yadier Molina added support when he hit a grand slam as the St. Louis Cardinals beat up on the Cincinnati Reds 11-6. Garrett Jones of the Pirates also bashed two homeruns of his own as Pittsburgh toppled the L.A. Dodgers. Dan Haren took the mound for the Snakes and shortstop Stephen Drew had an in-the-park homerun as the Arizona Diamondbacks roughed-up the San Diego Padres. Justin Verlander and Zach Greinke had a nice pitching duel in Kauffman Stadium. The Royals' bullpen imploded late though, giving up six runs as the Detroit Tigers took game one from Kansas City. Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle started his 8th career Opening Day, setting a new club record, but he wasn't done there. Buehrle displayed some fantastic defense with a play at first which helped Chicago blank the Cleveland Indians. And finally Shawn Marcum almost made some history of his own by becoming the first pitcher since Bob Feller in 1940 to pitch a no-hitter on Opening Day. Marcum's campaign was broken up by new Texas Ranger Vladimir Guerrero in the 7th, though. The game would go into the 9th with the Toronto Blue Jays leading by one, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia's walk-off hit pumped up the crowd and brought a win to Arlington, giving Texas its first walk-off Opening Day win since 1980.
All in all, it was a great day for baseball. The weather was beautiful, and the games were awesome. I hope this is a sign of yet another fantastic year of Major League Baseball. Oh, and my fantasy teams are doing good so far, so that's something too. Now go watch a game or two.