AL East

Baltimore Oriole Jeremy Guthrie showed up to play Friday night at Tropicana Field and he pitched like the first-round draft pick he is.

Prior to the 2007 season that featured CC Sabathia’s last run at a World Series ring in Cleveland, Guthrie was claimed off waivers from the Indians.

He has spent the better part of his career in relative obscurity on a bad team in a division dominated by powerhouses.

According to many fair-weather Red Sox fans, the loss of the first game may spell doom for the Boston team.

Out in the lost wilds of Texas, where longhorns are periodically turned into prime beef, the Red Sox were succulent morsels for the Texas Rangers.

Rounded up like the usual suspects, the team that only a week ago had fans humming 100 wins this season began to sink like the sun after a hot day into the Western sky.

The Blue Jays home opener started big with Jose Bautista receiving his silver slugger award from last season. Then, the pre-game activities were even bigger as Roberto Alomar and Pat Gilleck were on hand to see their Hall of Fame banners unveiled in the rafters before they teamed up to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the season.

After an offseason of turmoil and questions, the Yankees could finally put everything aside and let their play do the talking. Opening Day has finally come and gone and the Yankees are 1-0 and ahead of Boston in the AL East.

Everything is right in New York tonight.

Even though we are just one game into the long and strenuous regular season, we already have a feel for just what this Yankee team could be and is capable of.

Strengths shined through, but there are still some questions that have yet to be spoken for.

Today did not feel like Opening Day in baseball should feel. It was absolutely freezing at the stadium, windy, and at times we were hit with freezing rain/hail.

However, the Yankees looked pretty great for Opening Day. The bats came alive after a slow start, and the pitching looked top notch. 

CC Sabathia tossed six innings, giving up six hits and three runs (two earned). He had seven Ks and two walks, tossing a total of 106 pitches. 

First of all, let me state that I have nothing against GM Brian Cashman or the New York Yankees organization. I know Cashman does his best to keep a playoff-contending team year in and out. 

What this is for is to just lay out the possibilities that "could have been," as the Yankees' goal towards 28th championship has officially started today.

Now, the following prospects are very hyped ones—or at least they used to be. 

Yankee Stadium saw all kinds of weather today, ranging from overcast to sleet and snow but no matter how unpredictable the weather was, one thing was for sure; baseball is back and the Yankees are looking for number 28.  Over 48, 000 fans attended the game even though it was brutal to sit through (due to the weather) and the Yankees did not want to send their fans home unhappy.

New York Yankees (2010 record: 95-67)

The Yankees entered the offseason expecting to sign LHP Cliff Lee to a lucrative deal, but a funny thing happened on the way to the ballpark—the Philadelphia Phillies signed Lee out from under their nose at the 11th hour. Hey, turn about is fair play, right? The Yankees did the same thing to the Boston Red Sox a few years ago when they stepped in and signed Mark Teixeira at the last minute. Karma can be a real bitch!

While John Lackey and Josh Beckett are important to the starting rotation, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia may be the most critical player on the entire 2011 Boston Red Sox team.

Saltalamacchia was a top prospect rising through the Atlanta Braves minor league system, and he was in the line of young catchers who had potential to become superstars.

It was a cold, rainy day in the New York area. Some even wondered if there would be baseball in the Bronx on Thursday with the gray skies looming above.

But that wouldn't stop 50,000 faithful Yankee fans from coming out Thursday afternoon to turn out for the 2011 Opening Day game between the Yankees and the Tigers.