Man, listen, I try to give Teixeira the benefit of the doubt, and I agree with his business reasons, or at least understand them completely, and I don't hate him any more than I do the other Yankees, except I hate A-Rod way more than the rest of them and I really don't mind the rest of the new guys juuuust yet, and I've grown a 0.08% fondness for Derek Jeter because we're talking about a superstar athlete that has yet to be connected in any way, shape or form to the steroid stuff, but, like, really, if you're going to start two-facing this bad:
"In a perfect world, the Orioles would've won the World Series every year I was alive, and I'd be an Oriole right now," Teixeira said.
...
There was a lot of fondness expressed for Baltimore and the Orioles. When he was younger, he said he'd visit Memorial Stadium or Camden Yards 5-10 times a year. Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken were his favorite players when he was younger. In fact, Teixeira said the reason he bats from both sides of the plate is because of Murray. He says Camden Yards is still one of the best ballparks in baseball.
Then you know what? Cram it, "Tex." These boos are well-earned. A little while back Teixeira was a lifelong Yankees fan that looooooved Don Mattingly. I get a feeling he has another story somewhere in his equiptment bag about how even though he grew up in Maryland, he was a huge Expos fan that loved Gary Carter and Rock Raines, and he was thrilled when the team moved to Washington. He knew then and there he would be going back "home" to play for the Nationals.
Candus Thompson talked to Teixeira's dad:
"I don't blame [the fans]," said John "Tex" Teixeira, former Navy pilot and father of the player.
Note: This is sloppy, malicious, cherry-picking blogging by me. Mr. Teixeira said more, and he spoke diplomatically, but I want it to sound like this, so it's going to.
Roch mentions that yesterday was the first time Melvin Mora has batted cleanup. Ever. I did not realize that. He also reports that the press box wireless went out at least twice and caused him to lose two full entries. He's also got some video of Dave ("Let's go see Daaaave!") after the game, and he also says "good times" when discussing the wireless. There is a Bill Simmons "era" of sports journalism and we're in it. Bad jokes, bad movie references, "good times," obvious genuine passion and giving a crap about the teams. I don't know if Roch has any buddies with silly names but he better start telling me if he does.
Amber Theoharis (who looked lovely on Opening Day, by the way) had a pre-game article about Adam Jones that said this: "Watch Adam Jones early on this season. He looks really good at the plate. ... Also, he has better discipline when it comes to laying off big league breaking balls." Jonesy, of course, went 3-for-3 with two walks and drove the hell out of a pitch from Sabathia for a two-run triple. Amber is wise.
I think Peter Schmuck quit watching the game when Matsui got it to 6-5.
Kevin at Card "O" the Day does his best Plaschke. Not enough "young" / "old."
Andrew at The Loss Column has a look at the opening days for Norfolk, Bowie, Frederick and Delmarva, including the rotations for all four teams.
Dave at Weaver's Tantrum on Girardi's Yankees: "[They] are soft and play with a smug sense of entitlement. Not the confidence of a champion but the pretentiousness of a spoiled child."
No one could say it better.