Baseball is BACK: Max Whittle’s Opening Day review
I’m going out on a whim to say this Major League Baseball season will be one of the best ever.
After yesterday’s Opening Day feats, however, I’m not sure that whim is really anything to talk about. It was a historical day, 24 hours after the now AL West Houston Astros beat up on the Texas Rangers 8-2 for the franchise’s 4,000th regular season win, which seemed to mean more with rookie manager Bo Porter firing up his team and the crowd raucous – despite some groaners – because of the move from the National League to the American League.
The first two days of this new baseball season have lived up to everything the baseball world was hoping for. The new generation is here and flying already; Clayton Kershaw threw a shutout in just 94 pitches against the defending World Series champions, including a go-ahead home run (his first career long ball); Felix Hernandez struck out eight in 7 2/3 innings without giving up a run, while 20-year-old sophomore sensation Bryce Harper hit two home runs in his first two at-bats – becoming the youngest ever player to homer twice on Opening Day.
Forget the hot dogs and beer – I am stuck in England just able to watch the fireworks go off – Opening Day was about the players, the new contracts and all the buzz that comes with what is set to be a racehorse-type season. Stephen Strasburg was dominant, and that’s why Harper’s two homers were enough for World Series favourites Washington in a 2-0 win over the Marlins. After allowing a leadoff single to Juan Pierre, Strasburg retired 19 straight Miami hitters and the 24-year-old, blighted by injuries and his safe-approach ownership in previous years, needed just 80 pitches to throw seven scoreless innings.
The list is endless, in fact I haven’t even started. Justin Upton hit a home run in his Braves debut alongside brother B.J., and the Reds lost their first game against the Angels – and leftfielder Ryan Ludwick to a separated shoulder – in the first ever interleague opener in major league history. The matchup that looked the least exciting of the day turned out to be one of the most exciting when Milwaukee rallied against Colorado to win 5-4 in the tenth (Jonathan Lucroy’s sacrifice fly is the first walk-off of 2013), and hoorah (no bias) the New York Yankees lived up to their 2013 billing, looking old, injured and bereft of a plan B on their way to an 8-2 defeat against the rival Red Sox, where rookie call-up Jackie Bradley Jr. started in leftfield, walked three times against C.C. Sabathia and caught a ball deep in left that would have scored a Yankee run. Bradley Jr. (that is a perfect baseball name, isn’t it?), showed great patience at the plate against major-league pitching and may just be what the Red Sox need this year as they look for something to spark them back to life. New Boston manager John Farrell can be happy with one thing – DH Jonny Gomes would have started in left if not for Bradley’s inclusion, and there’s no way the former would have caught that ball. Boston may have won by six, but Farrell and Bradley Jr. saved a run there.
And so to Dodger Stadium, where the sun was shining (let’s face it, when is it not? Well, actually, when I went for Opening Weekend a few years back and I brought the rain with me) and the names were out in full force. Forget the flyover and new-look field at Chavez Ravine, Magic Johnson was up first, then manager Don Mattingly waved him off to bring up Sandy Koufax to throw the ceremonial first pitch. He bounced it toward home, but no worry, Orel Hershiser was there to smother it. Los Angeles really did go full circle when 25-year-old Kershaw, the ace of this staff and one of the best pitchers in the game, threw a four-hit shutout, all of which were singles. For LA fans, making the champions look average was the best type of revenge, but they’re in for a tough ride in the NL West with the Diamondbacks also starting promisingly, defeating the Cardinals 6-2.
It was the first time the defending champs had been shut out on Opening Day since the 1988 Twins, but what will please Don Mattingly more was the performance of Carl Crawford, who has as many question marks hanging over his head in 2013 than anyone else. Crawford went 2-4 with a run scored, all in a day’s work when he wasn’t even sure he’d be ready for this date after Tommy John surgery last year.
Three pitchers I haven’t mentioned yet that are worth noting are Justin Verlander, Chris Sale and James Shields.
The latter two went up against each other in an AL Central clash which saw the White Sox defeat the Royals 1-0 after two superb starts from the staff’s respective aces. Sale picked up from where he left off in 2012 with 7 2/3 scoreless innings and seven strikeouts (the left-hander went 17-8 with a 3.05 ERA in 2012) and Tyler Flowers’ solo home run was enough as Kansas City failed to help out Shields. The Royals starter was traded from the Rays in the offseason and produced straight away, scattering seven hits with no walks over six innings, but clearly it wasn’t enough.
Meanwhile Verlander, who has just signed an extension with Detroit that could earn him $202million over eight seasons, won his first ever Opening Day start but was so busy striking out Twins batters (seven K’s to go along with three hits and two walks) that he only pitched five innings. A win is a win and guess who drove in the first two Tigers runs? That’s right, Melky Cabrera and Prince Fielder. The Tigers won 4-2. Some things never change.
However, we best be ready for change in 2013. Baseball is moving into a new era, and after just two days you can’t be unhappy about where it’s going.
