Opening Day has come and gone and for me, it could not have been any sweeter with the Yankees winning and the Red Sox losing. So with one game in the books for each of our 3 local teams, I have some observations I made in watching these 3 games.

Yankees 9, Devil Rays 5
- Right off the bat I was a little disappointed with the YES broadcast of the Yankee game. It was an emotional day with Cory Lidle's widow and son to throw out the first pitch, but YES did not show it happen live. Right before Carl Pavano threw his first pitch they showed it "as it happened a few moments ago". In my opinion, I just felt that this was a great tribute that the Yankees were doing and should have been treated as such for the television audience. I was still choked up, but I guess I just was looking for it treated as a priority.
- On the other hand, I could not have been more excited to see Bobby Murcer make an appearance in the broadcast booth. Murcer has been battling brain cancer and he made an appearance for a few innings and it was a good lift for everybody. Even the Yankees in the dugout acknowledged Murcer when they saw him in the booth. Murcer is one of the all-time fan favorites (especially to the generation right before me) and I hope is was as good a moment for him as he battles this awful disease.
- I thought it was amazing that in the first inning Alex Rodriguez missed a pop-up and struck out with 2 men on base. The boos started immediately for him. I was even on my couch yelling at him so early in the season. It may be ridiculous, but I am sure he wasn't surprised about the fans reaction either. Of course in the 8th inning, he did hit a homer and the fans got a curtain call.
- The one thing missing from the day was Bernie Williams, but during the first inning the Bleacher Creatures did chant "We want Bernie!". If Bernie was watching the game, I am sure he heard how much the Bronx misses him.

Red Sox 1, Royals 7
- First inning, a man on base, and David Ortiz was at the plate. No doubt in my mind that he was doing to do something right away. Sure enough, Big Papi drives a bomb into the gap for an RBI double. I thought, "here we go again". Ortiz is just an RBI machine. What was surprising however, is that this was the only run the Sox would score. I don't think this will be a trend for the entire season.
- The "biggest" thing I noticed though was just how "big" Schilling is this year. His waistline has definitely grown a few sizes since last season. I wonder if he is not in shape yet and it could that have contributed to his poor outing today. Maybe Schilling should get up from his computer when he is working on his blog and hit the gym instead.

Mets 6, Cardinals 1 - last night
- This Mets team can hit. They are going to score a lot of runs, especially in the National League. Delgado-Beltran-Wright is as good a 3-4-5 as any line-up in baseball. Plus they have what some are calling the "most exciting player in the game" in Jose Reyes batting lead-off. The kid can run, hit for power, and plays a good shortstop. He is even fighting for the title of "best shortstop in New York"...we'll see about that!
- Tom Glavine is one win closer to 300 (he has 291 right now). While he doesn't have the dominating stuff he did in the mid 90's, he can still pitch. Kevin and I commented that it looked like even his fastball was a change-up, but he is a winner and as long as he stays healthy I think he can match his win total of last year (15).