AL East

Last night, some guys north of the border pulled on Superman's cape. In fact, they pulled it off.

In a land where almost everyone was focused on Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Toronto Blue Jays held Batman captive so long he had to tell them where the Bat Cave was.

A few weeks tardy, but here are my thoughts and analysis on the season that lies ahead. Thus far in the young season, there have been some big surprises. The Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals are a combined 23-11, while the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets trail their respective divisions. Okay, the Mets' early woes aren't much of a shock.

Prior to the season Brett Gardner was a popular selection for people looking for a pure speed option. There was talk of him hitting in the leadoff spot, making fantasy owners lust for the potential to score a significant number of runs.

Over two weeks into the season, Gardner has been nothing short of a major disappointment.

When looking into Brett Gardner's problems, one stat really jumps out at you. Gardner, after batting .287 against righties last year, is only batting a .105 against them this year.

The Boston Red Sox had few fans nearly 50 years ago. Fewer admit being fans back in 1963 and 1964. Few fans of today were alive back then. Those seasons were the Dark Ages of Red Sox lore. 

We are close to three weeks into the season, and few things are going as expected. Some teams have players that are surprising, and other teams are simply outperforming their expectations.

Its a long season, and things change, but some of these surprises are legitimate, and have some staying power. Cleveland may not necessarily be in for a major losing streak, and the Red Sox may not be the 100-win team people were expecting.

When the New York Yankees signed Russell Martin to a one-year contract during the offseason, they were hoping simply for Martin to provide spring training competition to youngsters Francisco Cervelli and Jesus Montero.

After a solid spring, Martin earned the starters job and has hit the ground running so far this season.

The sky was falling in the offseason in St. Petersburg.

Carl Crawford? Gone. Carlos Pena? Adios. Rafael Soriano? See Ya. Jason Bartlett? Bye. Matt Garza? Later. Joaquin Benoit? Hit the road.

"Holy fire sale, Batman! Who does that leave us with?"

It did not look good.

Sam Fuld? A washed up Johnny Damon? A roided up Manny? Eek.

And it started out looking pretty awful. Not only were the Rays 0-6, but they would've given anything for a two-run scoring outburst. Not a two-run inning, a two-run GAME!

It's a wonderful thing baseball is back.  After a long cold winter, we can finally get back to spring time, warmth, and baseball.

Now that we can enjoy our pastime again, we can get back to the traditions that we practice for every baseball game.  Sure different teams have different traditions, but these traditions bind us from one generation to the next.

Traditions are one of the most important parts of baseball.  Here is a list of the top 25 traditions in baseball stadiums:

The slumbering Boston Red Sox are now wide awake.  

Either that or they're faking it really well.

The Red Sox pounded out three straight wins over the Toronto Blue Jays behind excellent starting pitching, a barrage of hot hitting and a bullpen that has suddenly remembered how to not suck.

About time!