The real Opening Day

With all apologies to the Boston Red Sox, Oakland A's, Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals, Major League Baseball's real Opening Day finally came on Monday.
A full day of baseball in March always reminds me how much I miss the game after it goes away at the end of October. Not having to wake up at 6 a.m. to see it is a nice plus, and not having to stay focused after two Regional Finals in the NCAA Tournament allows me to appreciate a match-up between Jake Peavy and Roy Oswalt late in the evening.
I'm sitting on my couch right now watching Peavy's Padres and Oswalt's Astros trade zeroes, the two power righthanders dominating through four innings, and can't help but think that this might turn into the day's best game. We've had plenty to pick from for highlights so far, and here are a few of them.

--Is it an omen that the final home opener in the history of Yankee Stadium gets rained out? As a Red Sox fan I certainly hope so. What a shame it would be if the sun never shined on the Evil Empire all season, if New York's young pitchers all flopped and its aging veterans don't warm up to Joe Girardi's hard-ass ways.

--Shame on the Brewers for thinking that Eric Gagne was worth $10 million after the way he dogged it with the Red Sox last season. Contracts like Gagne's are the reason that salaries are so inflated. When a washed up scrub like Gagne signs for that sort of money, how is a team like Seattle supposed to pay a stud closer like J.J. Putz?

--From that same game in Chicago, nice debut for Kosuke Fukudome. A 3-for-3 afternoon, capped by a three-run homer against Gagne in the bottom of the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings, makes Fukudome an instant fan favorite at Wrigley Field. The fact that Gagne 'earned' the win despite a 27.00 ERA after one appearance is a disgrace.

--Did I say Gagne had a bad contract? My apologies to the Canadian. His deal isn't in the same league as Barry Zito's seven-year, $126-million disaster with the Giants. San Francisco should be sending checks to the Mets to help pay Johan Santana's salary, because that's what a true ace is supposed to look like and New York had to overpay to get Santana into Zito's tax bracket. This is karma for the Giants after harboring Barry Bonds and his cheating ways for so long. Zito's declining strikeout totals and inflating ERA over his last few seasons across the bay in Oakland should have been enough warning. There will be plenty of people dressed as empty seats in San Francisco this summer, and likely for the next five summers while the Giants are handcuffed by this horrible mistake.

--Speaking of Santana, he was brilliant today in a 7-2 win at Florida. The lefthander allowed only a two-run homer by Josh Willingham, cruising to a victory by surrendering just three hits and striking out eight. Had Santana been shelled, the New York tabloids would have been right back to writing about the club's collapse that ended last season and the heat would have been turned up. Instead, it was the first start in what should be a monster season for Santana.

--Even the lowly Royals can have at least one good day. Anyone want to bet that this might be the last time Kansas City sits above the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central standings this year? That Detroit line-up is ridiculous.

--Thank god Brandon Webb finally woke up. After getting crushed all spring (8.50 ERA), the Arizona sinkerballer beat Cincinnati with six strong innings (three hits, six strikeouts). With the two other starters on my fantasy team getting hammered (C.C. Sabathia and Jeremy Guthrie are on the trade block as we speak), Webb came up aces.

--The Red Sox start playing for real again Tuesday night in Oakland. Let all the games begin.