The season is a week old, and there are already a ton of interesting stories.
The Indians: 3-3 though they should be 2-4. Three good pitching outings, one each from Carmona, Westbrook, and Lee (surprise!). Three bad outings, one from Byrd (no surprise) and two from Sabathia (no real surprise, either). I think CC made a bad choice in not signing over the off-season. He seems to be a player whose emotions can get the better of him, and then he starts over-throwning and over-thinking. I do like him, though, even if he’s leaving after this season and hope he can pull it around. I don’t hold money against these players. I still root for Jim Thome, no matter that the other people in the stands are booing.
I hoped the offense would get off to a hot start to try to avoid pressing, but it was not to be. Hafner still looks like the Hafner from last year, though my brain keeps reminding me that a small sample size is still a small sample size. Victor getting hurt again on opening day means a whole lotta scrambling attempting to find a lineup.
I hate platoons. I’ll probably be saying that a lot this year, but I hate ’em. And the LF platoon of Michaels and Dellucci is just silly. Yesterday, both started against a righty, which means management thinks Michaels can hit righties, which means that what the hell is Dellucci doing on the team? Bah. I’d like to see Francisco given an honest chance to win that job.
STO is running some of the most obnoxious commercials in the history of TV. That “American and proooooud of it” guy? That obnoxious little kid screaming about baseball? Yuck and yuck.
Matt Underwood seems a bit subdued this year, but Rick Manning is saying some of the stupidest crap I’ve ever heard from baseball announcers. The claim that “It doesn’t matter how you pitch but when you pitch” doesn’t make “ERA overrated,” you idiot. It makes won/loss records overrated. Nitwit.
The Tigers: What in the world is going on with the Tigers? Before the season started, I wondered about the health of the team. They are a bit elderly. But their problems don’t seem to be health related right now. They are pressing, trying to do too much.
The Red Sox: Is it too much to hope that they crash and burn this year? Probably.
The Yankees: Ditto.
The Reds: Reds fans better hope Dusty Baker gets hit by a bus before he can ruin those young arms.
The Mets: Santana is an exceptional pitcher, but he does have vulnerabilities. I hope the Mets fans and management didn’t overlook them.
The White Sox: Die, AJ! DIE!
The Royals: I’d love to see this team finish 2nd in the ALC. Behind Cleveland, of course.
The Braves: I’m not a Braves fan, but I am a John Smoltz fan and have been for *gulp* nearly 20 years. Before their success in the 90s, I was pulling for the Braves. Soon, I’ll probably be able to pull for them again.