ESPN should change its name to Evil Sports Network
The fact that the Yankees were on as the opening day game in lieu of the Reds is the new defacto point that they have become too influential.  And you just know that ESPN called up Bud and had MLB change the Yankees and Reds starting times.
As for tradition of the Reds always playing and opening the season first?
The only tradition Selig and ESPN know is green.  And not the liberal bullshit kind.
May a pox descend upon all their houses, especially, Barry Larkin, who in an attempt to please all NEVER tells the truth when asked about other players.
And not the kind of pox that causes really bad affliction, just the kind that causes one to require nearness to the bathroom.

.240, 18, and 68
These are the numbers I am wishing upon Alex Rodriguez and Jayson Werth.
No injuries, just greed driven low production.
FYI - Jayson and his new team lost to the Braves Thursday, a feeling he will surely have to grow to love, along with his boatload of cash.

.296, 17, and 88
The numbers I wish for Jimmy Rollins.
If Jimmy is solid, if he can adjust to a role that calls for him to be more patient and not try for the long ball all of the time, the Phillies will win the World Series.
If he doesn't adjust, I think not only will the Phillies let him walk, but he will have blown a chance at being a very special shortstop.  He will be remembered in Philly with a fondness that is laced with "if only would have played more to his abilities and not to his ego".

The MLB Channel
I can sit for hours on end and watch this channel.  The management though, needs to lessen their effort to be fashionable.
Baseball is not a fashionable sport.  It is a pastime.  It is an event that is more than a sport.  It is family.  It is cold beer on a hot afternoon.  It is statistically based arguments at their finest.  It is the background to our Summers, and the focal point of our Falls.
You don't need tatted up, dred locked mouths rapping the trash.  Or Larry Bowa.  I love Bowa, but I've grown weary of him.  He is everywhere in Philly.

The Big Guy, Philly Style
I hope the city of Philadelphia embraces all things Ryan Howard.  So far, his numbers are historic.  So far, the city has been relatively luke warm, digging him.  They clearly do not dig him like they do Cliff Lee or Doc Halladay.  I hope this is not an underlying racial thing, and I hope it changes this summer.

Even Derek Jeter Cannot Stop The Aging Process
Derek Jeter is a first ballot Hall of Famer.  The hardcore greed he displayed this past Winter during his contract negotiations was a direct result of the denial he has about aging.
I believe it has also rooted the foundation for some ugly interaction with the fans.
Jeter hit .270 last year, 43 points below his lifetime average.  He is getting older, his bat and hands are slower, and he will hit even less this year.  I am curious to see how the NY media and fans handle it as he loses his skills to age.

One Year Wonders
The Cincinnati Reds will not repeat as the Central Division champs.  Their lineup and their pitching staff are not scary.  They are good, but not intimidating.  And the rest of the Central Division got
better.

Pujols 451
Albert Pujols will fail miserably this year.  People who earn $100,000,000 over seven years and claim to be underpaid are setting themselves up to experience serious failure.  No writer in baseball will write it, and no talking head will say it, but Pujols is not worth an A-Rod like contract (neither is #13 but that is another story).
His age and his lack of ability to do steroids means he will begin breaking down in three or four years.
This idea that he is going to get a $300,000,000 contract is ludicrous.  But it will most likely happen and whoever pays it will regret it.
I predict that Pujols will blow his elbow out in the next 24 months.
Book it.  I can see it in the baseball karma cloud.
FYI - Albert was oh for five in the Cardinals opening day loss.  Hitting in to three (3) double plays.

Remember In September
A lot of arrogant asses have gone off the board Alex, and predicted that the Atlanta Braves will win the Eastern Division.  I know these people are just trying to be cool; I know that they are just attempting to stir conversation and appear smarter than others.
The problem I have is, if this is the case, then these same people cannot, and I repeat, cannot vote for Fredi Gonzalez for Manager of the Year if the Braves do win the East.
I mean, really, if the Braves are a better team than the Phillies and their starting staff, then I could manage the team and they win.
But they are not.  And when September rolls around and the Braves are looking up at the Phightins, we all should be allowed to kick them, literally, in the arse.

Numbers
Part of the beauty that is baseball lies in the numbers; you know, those statistics we use to base our arguments of who is better.  At the end of Opening Day, and usually for a few days after, fans can get a good chuckle when these normally scaled numbers run askew because of short samplings.

John Axford - Milwaukee Brewers - ERA 54.00 (4 Earned runs in 2/3rd of an inning)
Brett Myers - Houston Astros - BA 1.000 (2 for 2; too many people are 1 for 1)
JC Romero - Philadelphia Phillies - ERA Infinite (1 Earned run without getting a hitter out)
Will Ohman - Chicago White Sox - ERA 40.50 (2/3rd of an inning)
Carlos Quentin - Chicago White Sox - BA .730 (3 for 4, HR, 5 RBI)

Peace Out.