Game Recap

The people who say Derek Jeter is overrated must not watch Yankee games.

For the second day in a row, the Captain played an integral role in New York's win over the defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays.

On Tuesday, the shortstop's opposite field single in the eighth got the go-ahead run to third with less than two outs.  His three-run homer in the ninth put the game out of reach.

Derek Jeter seems to be enjoying the lead off spot this season thus far. 

He knocked in Cody Ransom on a huge go-ahead RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning off of Rays closer, Troy Percival.

Andy Pettitte pitched into the eighth inning, but handed the ball over to Brian Bruney who got the win as Pettitte left in a tied game.

Mariano Rivera, the only player who wears No. 42, closed the game out for his second save of the season as the Yankees won, 3-2.

No Cubs fan shed a tear when GM Jim Hendry traded Jason Marquis to the Colorado Rockies this winter. In fact, many were openly joyous over his departure.

But I ask you, dear Cubs fans, who would you rather have: Luis Vizcaino or Jason Marquis?

The reason I ask this is not so much because of what happened today because, hey, it's only one game.

But the reason I cautioned everyone that the trade may not be so good for us is that you can never have too much pitching, first of all. And, all we got in return is an over-priced middle reliever.

By the way, that phenom reliever is Nick Swisher.

I hate the Yankees.  Therefore, every chance I get to mock them, I go for it.

It is a sad day when your first baseman pitches better in relief than the actual guys labeled as pitchers on your 25-man roster.

Chien-Ming Wang now has a 28.93 ERA.  It's a good thing the Yankees stocked up on starting pitching this offseason.

Carlos Pena, Jason Bartlett, and Pat Burrell all went deep off Yankee pitching last night, helping the Rays demoralize the Yankees 15-5.

*First off, I would like to introduce Cody Swartz as my co-Community Leader for the Philadelphia Phillies. Cody has mostly written about the Philadelphia Eagles, but has also written about the Phillies and shares the same knowledge with the Phillies as he does the Eagles. He has officially been promoted to the position as my co-CL. He will be a huge help with all of the activities that are planned to be introduced to our community this season, so look out for messages from Cody or myself in the near future for a community event.

Phew. I'm tired.

Well at least they won one. The Tribe dropped the first two in almost the same fashion they dropped all three to the Rangers to open the season. They got behind early thanks to poor starting pitching and then failed to come through with the clutch hit with runners in scoring position. The ugly numbers:

Game One - 1-5 RISP, 11 K, 8 LOB, 1 DP
Game Two - 1-9 RISP, 9 K, 8 LOB, 2 DP
Game Three - 2-7 RISP, 11K, 11 LOB, 1 DP
Totals - 4-21 RISP (.190), 31 K, 21 LOB, 4 DP

As I previously declared, Opening Day 2009 was a bust. But an even bigger disappointment was Cleveland's unofficial holiday, Home Opening Day.

It wasn't the cold weather, or the rain, or the game being postponed—we're Clevelanders, most of us were prepared for that stuff. It wasn't the overpriced alcohol or hot dogs or the drunk guy spilling his beer on us either. It's a baseball game, that's all part of the experience.

Man, the run for the AL East is going to be great to watch!

Well, actually, today, not for me. 

The Yankees are quite honestly getting their butts kicked down in the Trop.

Wang was taken out very early (in the second) and gave up eight, count them eight, runs.

He looked more like Sidney Ponson than Chien-Ming Wang out there tonight!

But on a good note, Nick Swisher did continue his hot-hitting ways, blasting his third homer since opening night.  He is in the running for the AL Player of the Week.

Ranger fans like no other fans know what roller coaster type seasons are like, the Texas Rangers have been having that share over the past ten seasons.

Last year the entire season almost went by before the Rangers swept a series and were swept in a series, it took the first week of the season to accomplish both this year.

The Rangers opened the season at home with a three game series against the Cleveland Indians. The Rangers went on to sweep the Tribe 9-1, 8-5, 12-8 and comply 29 runs, 37 hits, and 18 extra-base hits to start the season.

Theodore Roosevelt Lilly III.

That about sums up Opening Day 2009 at Wrigley Field.

Rain delayed the start of today’s game for an hour and 12 minutes, but couldn’t put on a damper on the Cubs home opener or the mood of the 40,077 fans that showed up to spite it.

Ted Lilly walked catcher Chris Iannetta in the third inning and didn’t allow another Rockie to reach base until Garrett Atkins singled with two outs in the seventh to end the no-hit bid.