At Least It's Baseball...

... if I hear one more person say that, they're getting punched in the nuts.

Opening Day. Gorgeous Weather. The kind of thing you dream about when sitting inside in mid-January. But then Mary Todd probably liked the play, too.

Patterson had nuttin'. He couldn't control the fastball, and it sailed wildly. He hardly threw his curve. I wasn't keeping track of pitches like I normally do, but I saw now more than 5-10 of them, most of them rolling harmlessly to the dirt (save one on the first pitch to Miguel Cabrera in an AB he'd later home in). And his slider? Yeesh. It just sorta rolled further and further outside every time he threw it, and the batters could just let it go for a ball.

Without any breaking or offspeed pitches, he was left with that fastball, which topped out at 90 MPH, but was mostly thrown at a Madduxian 88-89 MPH, far from the 92-94 range he was throwing when he was healthy in '05.

Three walks and two measly strikeouts? I realllly hope it's just rust. But the more I see, the less I'm convinced.

Outfield defense on both sides look shaky. There were a few "triples" in the game. I'm not sure if that was bad defense or a tough sky seeing as everyone was struggling.

Ryan Zimmerman got the love for his 2-4 day (conveniently ignoring the soul-crushing DP he hit into in the third), but Dmitri Young really was the hitting star, slapping doubles down both lines. It was awesome watching his chunky body grind gears to get up to speed. So amazing are his powers of acceleration that both times his batting helmet blew off Willie Mays style.

We saw not one, but two massive upper deck homers by the opposition, bring back fond memories of the Pedro Astacio rein of terror. The blast by Dan Uggla had to go 430 as it was hit just to the left of center.

It's hard not to be frustrated by the lack of offense, but when a good pitcher is throwing well, he's going to make your team look like it's not really trying.

This goes doubly so for a team that leans so heavily to the left side. With Church, Snelling, Schneider and an impotent Lopez (versus lefties, .257/ .311/ .389), there are going to be some tough nights.

I'm sure that somewhere there's someone lecturing the fans for unfairly booing Guzman for not running out the grounder where he strained his hamstring. These same people weren't there to see him not running out the could've-been DP ball he hit in the third inning.

The image of Levale Speigner batting to lead off the fifth made my eye twitch a bit. A defensible move, I suppose. I'm just not sure you have to worry about blowing out the pen in the first game. What if Shawn Hill throws a CG tomorrow? (Yeah, I was laughing when I typed that) The only question I had about it was that with him on deck in the previous inning, the bullpen was warming. I know, I know... there was a rally going on in that situation. But Speigner as leadoff hitter practically ensures there wouldn't be a rally in the next.

Regardless, it's a pleasure to only be able to quibble with a manager's strategic decision when it's basically a coin flip choice.

Buck says that Micah Bowie doesn't make it to June.

Screw you time:
-- I didn't check it out in person, but if the Hard Time stand is gone, screw you.
-- Screw you to Kasten/Aramark/Whoever for 1) raising beer prices 2) eliminating the one place that had cheap beer in the park.
-- To the raised parking prices and the lack of direction resulting in me sitting in the @#$@#$@# parking lot for an hour after the game.
-- Lots of other people were complaining about the return of the never-ending hotdog line.
-- To Comcast for screwing up my internet last night and this morning. It's not like I'm paying you $45 a month or anything...

Ah, it's nice to be curmudgeonly again! All that being said, it was a pleasure being out there, seeing the team, and having a surprisingly full crowd. When they're excited and as involved as they were (at least to start the game), that's what enhances the 'fan experience', not the bread and circuses that line Lerner's pockets with more dough.

Well... at least it's baseball!