Opening Day Report

Went to the A's opener last night and for one game at least everything was good in baseball. Now if they would only get rid of Bud Selig.


The home pitcher had the good stuff. Ex Yankee and current Athletic David Justice hit a home run and ex Athletic and current Yankee Jason Giambi hit into a bases loaded double play. Sorry about the schadenfreude Andy but you can understand why I'm bitter. To top off the evening Jeremy Giambi slid into home, which is something he didn't do in the pivotal game of the last year's playoff series against the Yanks. Even though he didn't have to slide this time the crowd appreciated the gesture.

Although I don't have very high hopes for Cleveland this year they impressed me in their opener on Sunday. Colon looked very strong--I think only Randy Johnson and maybe Clemens can retain their velocity in the late innings like Bartolo. The hitting was there despite the big holes left by Alomar, Gonzalez and Cordova (who 2001 was great but probably a fluke). I expect them to play barely better than .500 but that could be enough in their weak division. In that quest I look for them to set a major league team record for strikeouts--lead by the Branyan and Thome, who could together provide enough wind for a small Dutch town.


KJS

who could together provide enough wind for a small Dutch town.


Great line.

The Mariners and the Athletics have there first series stating this Friday in Seattle.

Go Mariners! They should take the AL west with only minor trouble from the A's. That's of course, my bias opinion.


Glad the season is finally going - get out the Hot Dogs, Beer and peanuts. YEA!


-Zeno

"Now if they would only get rid of Bud Selig."


Hey, he did such a great job with the Brewers, I'm confident he can duplicate that effort for MLB.


"Ex Yankee and current Athletic David Justice hit a home run and ex Athletic and current Yankee Jason Giambi hit into a bases loaded double play"


Obviously, Justice prevailed.


Anyway, schadenfreude is my favorite kind of freude. As my hero (that is, my other hero; Tommy's my true hero) Mark Twain said, "We all like to see people seasick when we are not ourselves. [Other pleasures] are all feeble and commonplace compared with the joy of seeing people suffering the miseries of seasickness."


The Yankees looked seasick yesterday.


Stan Musial retired in 1963 and the Cardinals, who had not won the World Series since 1946, won it in 1964 after he left. Sometimes a team overcomes the loss, either psychological (as in the case of Musial, who was not a great player any more in 1963) or physical (Jason Giambi is the best hitter in the league), in surprising ways. I wouldn't be surprised to see the A's back in the hunt again in October; they've still got a great staff and Justice just might have one more big year in him.

Andy-


You mention Stan Musial, and how his retirement 'led' to victory. A writer for ESPN.com (page 2) named Bill Simmons has written extensively about this. He calls it "the Ewing theory", since the Knicks discovered success when he was injured. You should check out his writings, if you like a humorous, youthful perspective on sports.


Along the same lines, he is from Boston, and has also come up with the "Drew Bledsoe theory", actualized this year.


Josh

What the hell is Pinella doing sandwiching Cameron between Edgar and Olerud? Do you want to see Cameron or Olerud at the plate with the game on the line? I'll take Olerud every time. If they didn't win so many games last year, I'd really start second guessing Pinella.

dog,


Honestly I couldn't give a rip about the M's. I am diehard Cleveland fan and only make it to Safeco about once a year outside of the Cleveland visits. Don't even follow them in the papers. Lou always seemed like kind of a jerk to me.


KJS

I agree that Pinella can be quite the chump when they lose. I really like the chemistry of the Mariners, though. I just wish I could buy a ticket to one of their games and still be able to face myself in the mirror. I still haven't forgiven them for the time they learned that there might be an extra $60 million in interest when the stadium bond matured and laid claim to the money. Money that hadn't even been earned yet. We pay for their stadium and have to buy tickets to get into it? Not me. It's the principle of the matter, not to mention that at least 80% of their games are televised.