OPENING DAY: Live Blogging
Posted by Alan Hull on March 31st, 2008
2:15 pm PST: So here we are. Opening Day. Obscure Sports Quarterly came up with a sonnet to commemorate. No games for about eight hours. I’ve heard Chien-Ming Wang is working on a change-up. If he can combine that pitch with his power-sinker that would bode well for his strikeouts this season. Roy Halladay is no longer one of the game’s most feared pitcher as he was in 2002-03 but he’s still a monster and the Blue Jays have put together some kind of infield defense.
If you have MLB.tv - a great investment and a great way to waste time at work - watch Brandon Webb and the Diamondbacks against Aaron Harang and the Reds at 11:10 AM PST. That said, Joey Votto will be on the bench while Scott “Takes Strike One” Hatteberg will be starting. Dusty Baker, are you really that dumb???
11:11 am PST: The internet was bad where I was at in the morning, so I bailed. This live-blogging thing isn’t going as well as I would have liked. I will be live-blogging during the games starting at 1:00pm. Johan Santana vs. Mark Hendrickson? Talk about a mismatch.
Why is Brandon Inge playing center field? Couldn’t Jim Leyland give Jacque Jones a crack at it first?
11:42 am PST: Miguel Cabrera goes deep for what will be the first of many bombs this season. The extension he gets and how he can square-up on just about any pitch is what makes him so good.
People really love making fun of fat people, I guess because ESPN has mentioned Cabrera’s weight about 1,200 times since I’ve sat down.
11:49 am PST: Justin Verlander grooves one to Alex Gordon on a 3-1 count and he just mashes it. How good is Alex Gordon? I honestly don’t know. Last season, he was the consensus #1 prospect but his stock took a bit of a hit in 2007 after a rough rookie season. Is he better than Evan Longoria? I honestly don’t know, but I have to think no. Maybe he’ll prove me wrong and re-establish himself as one of the best young players in the game.
12:26 pm PST: Kosuke Fukudome debuts in the United States with a double on a 0-0 fastball off Ben Sheets. I love it.
12:40 pm PST: Commercial. You have to see this: UCLA Bruins basketbal stud Kevin Love has the strongest wrists ever. (Gutty Little Bruins)
12:49 pm PST: With all the rain delays, at least we’re getting to watch some other games. Right now, the Cincinnati Reds v. Arizona Diamondbacks game is on. Eric Byrnes has the worst swing I have ever seen, but that fourth-outfielder can hit.
1:26 pm PST: Brandon Inge makes me look like a fool, throws out Mark Teahen from center field in the top of the 11th. I couldn’t help but laugh.
1:51 pm PST: Ben Sheets and Carlos Zambrano are having a day. Sheets still brings that nasty curveball. He’s struck out Felix Pie on it twice now. The first one was just vicious.
2:21 pm PST: Carlos Zambrano, also known as “Twinkle Toes” picks off Bill Hall on his second try. All that talk about him playing soccer in the off-season comes to fruition. I also heard Livan Hernandez used to play shortstop in Cuba. Not sure I’m buying that one.
2:36 pm: I’m going to stop writing PST for every time - I assume you all know where I’m at now. The Big Lead has an interview with ESPN’s Keith Law.
I’m thinking the Brewers bullpen is going to cough-up this game.
2:51 pm: Guillermo Mota is our guy. He’s going to cough it up. Watch.
3:04 pm: Guillermo Mota survives. Kerry Wood comes in for the Cubs. He’s pegged as the closer, but that’ll be contingent on health. Kerry Wood was once the man before Dusty Baker ran him and Mark Prior into the ground in 2003. Here’s the video of his 20 strikeout game–absolutely nuts.
3:12 pm: I called the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen coughing it up and the Cubs bullpen does it instead. That’s what happens when you make predictions in-game. Here: Eric Gagne will get the save. Let’s see if that sticks.
3:23 pm: What did I say? Fukudome delivers. 3 for 3 with the game-tying homerun, a double, a single and a walk. My buddies are predicting a walk-off home run from Fukudome in the 10th.
4:29 pm: Los Angeles Angels vs. Minnesota Twins. The Twins are in a sad state when their opening day starter is a vetern plug they brought in on a one-year contract. The Angels are in a pretty bad place right now too–so much so where Larry Brown, an Angels fan, has picked the Seattle Mariners to win the American League West. I’m not so sure, the Angels still have so much depth that they could almost field two teams. Howie Kendrick is batting seventh for the Angels. When are they going to figure out that that guy can hit? I’d bat him second, personally, but no one asked me.
5:35 pm: Is there anything more boring than watching two teams devoid of any power square off? When’s Vlad Guerrero coming up? Just kidding, good game, tied 2-2.
7:38 pm: The Angels wound up losing to the Twins 3-2. That’s not good as Minnesota is one of the few teams with a worse offense than the Angels’. The expensive Joe Nathan closes out the game, accounting for 1/78th of the Twins 2008 wins total.
The San Diego Padres now square off against the Houston Astros. I like the Jake Peavy vs. Roy Oswalt match-up. Will Peavy’s relative edge be enough to beat out the Astros relative edge on offense. These are two, pretty bad teams but everyone likes a good pitching match-up, or is that just me?
In other news, Rob Nayer is conducting a day-long chat. I’ve submitted the following question four times and he has yet to respond. I think something’s up. “Hi Rob, big fan. In your Top-50 Players for the Next Five Seasons article, you ranked Dustin Pedroia over Prince Fielder and Justin Upton. I like Pedroia’s scrappy style of play and defense as much as the next guy but do you really expect him to out-perform the youngest player to ever hit 50 home runs in a season and the youngest player in the game? Your thoughts?”
After I gave up on that question, I asked him: “You ranked Melky Cabrera over Matt Kemp. I just don’t see it. What are some of the reasons for that ranking?” Again, I was ignored. I’m beginning to hate Rob Nayer.
I’ll try one more question, but I recommend you send him a few. Maybe he doesn’t like being challenged. Maybe he isn’t confident in his opinion. Ask him if he likes Babe Ruth or Dustin Pedroia better. He might answer that one.
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