I've watched a bunch of games. No real Oriole news - Javy Lopez will be in the lineup tomorrow after leaving because of his back flaring up on Monday, which is worrisome given his age and position, but I'm trying not to let it spoil my optimism. I've got a bit.
John Smoltz got killed today. Delgado's Florida debut made me glad he's out of our division, going 4-for-5 with three RBI. I'd feel worse for Smoltz, but he's kind of a whiner. Yeah, he's a competitor and a bulldog and all that nice stuff, but he's also kind of a whiner.
I found it interesting that the Marlins were so metal-centric. They were introduced to "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and were playing the Crue's "Live Wire" during more pregame stuff. It was amazing to see Jack McKeon trot to the foul line to Metallica.
During the Yankee game on YES, there was one point when Bud Selig joined the broadcast booth with Michael Kay, Jim Kaat and Paul O'Neill. If four people who say stupider things have ever sat in such close proximity, I would be stunned.
In scary futuristic news, Scott Kazmir went five innings, allowing three hits and one run before Seth McClung got shelled, leading to the Devil Rays losing to Toronto, 6-3. Kazmir is someone who - if he doesn't blow out his arm, which unfortunately must be said about every single promising young pitcher now - is going to be a problem for us and the other teams in the division as early as this season, and likely well into the future.
The attendance for the Jays at the Rays? 9,144. I don't like to pick on the Devil Rays (why punch someone who has no hands, unless you're Ty Cobb?) but that is really pathetic.
Did any of you happen to see the AP headline a few days ago that said something like "Sanchez's steroid use overshadows Opening Day"? The steroid talk is bad enough at this point, but in what universe was the news that Alex Sanchez used steroids (or, you know, one of the countless other things banned that is not steroids) overshadowing Opening Day? Maybe to Alex Sanchez.
Since everyone conducts polls with the working man and the fan's fan, Joe Blow and Joe Schmoe, I decided to conduct my own poll on this topic. 68 percent of baseball fans responded, "Who the hell is Alex Sanchez?"
And I don't mean to pick on him, but jeez, you know? At a time when I think a good number of fans are trying to just forget about it, trust in baseball's system right now, and get back into the actual playing of the game and rooting for your fourth starter to have a breakout season or that one feller to hit 20 dingers, the press insists every single day that we care about steroids more than anything else. It's not true. It's not true for me at least, nor anyone I know.
But what else would they write about? Baseball games? Please.