Even though it's abundantly clear that the NFL is miles ahead of Major League Baseball, it was great to see the return of our national past time yesterday. The "official" start of the 2006 season may have been Sunday night, but for most of us, the 26 teams that took the field in 13 games yesterday was when it really got started.
For 10 hours yesterday, I was entirely consumed by baseball. From the 1pm start of the Nationals-Mets game, right up until the Yankees plated their 12th run, I was a channel-surfing baseball nerd. And I loved every minute of it.
Some observations:
1. Bartolo Colon's conditioning leads me to think that he won't last the full season. Buster Olney mentioned in his blog that Colon's velocity was way down from a year ago, and I didn't really pay much attention to that. What I did notice was that he started out dominating the Seattle hitters, but the second time through, the hitters were getting the best of him. If Colon breaks down, the Angels won't be going anywhere this year.
2. Welcome to the US, Kenji Johjima! I was skeptical of how Johjima, an All-Star catcher in Japan, would acclimate to the playing in the States, but Johjima did really well yesterday. He even hit his 1st major league HR (off the aforementioned Colon).
3. If you thought Cecil Fielder was big, wait 'til you get a load of his son, Prince, who is playing 1B for the Brewers. The guy is positively MASSIVE, and while he struck out 4 times yesterday, when he makes contact, the ball flies.
4. Speaking of the Brewers, I'm inches away from adopting them this year. I just love the way they play the game, and JJ Hardy and Rickie Weeks comprise an intriguing doubleplay combo up the middle. If Carlos Lee and Geoff Jenkins produce, and Ben Sheets gets healthy, the Brewers can win in the NL Central.
5. I have to give it up for FOX Sports in LA, who employed "Mound Cam" yesterday. It's always a treat to get a close-up view of Derek Lowe giving up a homerun.
6. I'm not saying that the Florida Marlins are a young team, but word is their games are being broadcasted by Nickelodeon. Still, they'll be fun to watch this year. I was really impressed with the arm on RF Jeremy Hermida.
7. The next time you go to a steakhouse in the Boston area, don't be surprised if your waiter asks if you want your steak cooked "rare", "medium", "well done" or "Keith Foulke", which I'm sure would be cooked to the point where it would break into peices if you dropped it. I thought Jon Papelbon would be closing by June 1st. I'd like to amend that, if I could.
8. When Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch the 2006 Mariners season, threw a strike on the outside corner, I'm sure that Mike Hargrove was hoping he'd stick around to work out of the bullpen.
(By the way, Seattle is officially a football town. That place went nuts when a few of the Seahawks were introduced before the game. Biggest ovation: FB Mack Strong.)
9. The Yankees are on pace to score 2,430 runs this season...
9a....and Chris Shelton is on pace to hit 324 homeruns. He plays for the Tigers, which was the answer to the question you just asked yourself.
10. The Braves had a 6-run lead on the Dodgers in the 8th inning, and barely hung on to win 11-10. Do you think they'll miss Leo Mazzone this year?
On a side note, and since I don't think I mentioned it on here when it happened, but can we get over the "Johnny Damon is a traitor" nonsense? So he signed with the Yankees. Big deal. The only reason he played for the Red Sox is because in 2001, they were offering him the most money. It's not as though he worked his way through the organization or anything, so let's stop with the hatred people feel towards this guy. He's a mercenary, a hired gun with no loyalties to a particular team. The fan base with a legitimate gripe about Damon are the 7 remaining Royals fans. That's where Damon developed, until he got too pricey and had to be dealt away to Oakland for prospects.
Harboring ill will towards Damon is as cheap and pathetic as Damon playing with a "chip on his shoulder" because the Red Sox low-balled him.
Still, I fully expect to hear a chorus of "boos" when Damon returns to Fenway this year, which is about as predictable as a "Yankees Suck" chant during a Red Sox-Orioles game in mid-May.
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