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A new season means a new start for my weekly MLB column: \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWeekly Hit Ground Ball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\nA new season means a new start for my weekly MLB column: \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWeekly Hit Ground Ball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m changing the format\u00c2\u00a0slightly this year, not least with the switch from Sunday to Monday morning.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be concentrating primarily on things that catch my attention while watching and listening to games over the course of the preceding week.\u00c2\u00a0 That will then lead on to my preview of the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcearly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 games that are scheduled for the working week ahead, which will be incorporated into WHGB this year rather than in a separate post.<\/p>\n
For the uninitiated, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve published a preview of the games that will take place at a convenient time for fans in the UK (i.e. games with first pitch scheduled for before midnight) every \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcregular season\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Monday since the start of the 2007 season.\u00c2\u00a0 Start times are listed in British Summer Time (BST) and the probable pitching match-ups are included to help you plan your baseball week.\u00c2\u00a0 We then publish a similar preview on Saturday and Sunday for the early games being played on those days.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n
A great way to start<\/strong><\/p>\n We all hoped that the Yankees and Red Sox would serve up a great game to start the season and they didn’t disappoint with Boston recovering from an early 5-1 deficit to win 9-7.\u00c2\u00a0 It took the usual four hours that you always seem to get when these two teams come together, which isn’t ideal when it means you finally get to bed at 5 a.m. but is easy to live with when those four hours are packed with action.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n It wasn’t a great game in the traditional sense.\u00c2\u00a0 There was no tight pitching duel despite the quality of the hurlers involved and baseball coaches across the world would have tutted at some of the fundamental mistakes being made by the best players around (the Red Sox’s handling of the double-steal, several hitters coasting out of the batter’s box taking it for granted that they had swatted a home run, Brett Gardner’s poor decision to throw home rather than to third base etc).\u00c2\u00a0 However, from a fan’s point of view,\u00c2\u00a0such Opening Night rustiness only added to the drama and we had plenty of exciting moments to add into the mix as well, from back-to-back jacks and the double steal which allowed Gardner to score from third\u00c2\u00a0(exciting from the Yankees’ perspective even if the Red Sox will see it as a self-inflicted wound), to Youkilis’ two-run triple and\u00c2\u00a0Pedroia’s homer into the Green Monster seats.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n As for ESPN’s coverage, it was a case of things changing but things staying the same.\u00c2\u00a0 Orel Hershiser has joined Jon Miller and Joe Morgan in the booth this year and he fitted into their routine\u00c2\u00a0seamlessly, adding his “fastball window” phrase (as in “Beckett throws his curve out of the fastball window”) into the Sunday Night lexicon alongside all the old favourites.\u00c2\u00a0 Jon broke out a “slide piece” reference early on to leave us in no doubt that baseball is back.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ve come up with a few new touches to the production, most notably the ESPN Axis camera shot and using a traffic light system for balls, strikes and outs, but by and large it was a comforting return to normal service: a decent job overall marred a little by the desire to turn every feature into an opportunity to promote some company or product and cheered by some unintentionally funny comments from Joe.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n Morganism of the night: Joe using all of his Hall-of-Fame experience to explain to us that Curtis Granderson hitting a long home run in his first at-bat with the Yankees was “better than going 0-for-10 and looking for his first hit”.<\/p>\n Lots to look forward to<\/strong><\/p>\n The sheer number of games baseball teams play is part of what makes it such a compelling sport to follow.\u00c2\u00a0 By the time we get to next Monday morning, 92 games would have been played (subject to any postponements) .\u00c2\u00a0 Each one will provide multiple storylines and memorable moments, many experienced in a variety of ways by different people due to personal allegiances and emotional investments, be it the team you support, your fantasy players or simply players you like to see do well\/badly.<\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be setting my alarm tonight for 3.00 a.m. so that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m awake for the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s opener against the Mariners and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be living every pitch, taking it all far too personally considering it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only one game of 162.\u00c2\u00a0 Such is the irrational life of a fan. One of the joys of Opening Day\/Night is seeing new recruits wearing your team’s colours for the first time and it will be great to see Ben Sheets on the mound in green and gold.\u00c2\u00a0 It probably will not be quite so much fun seeing Felix Hernandez pitching against us, but if you’re going to win your first game, you might as well do so against one of the very best hurlers around.<\/p>\n Plenty of pitchers<\/strong><\/p>\n Normally I like to highlight the games with the best pitching match-ups, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s difficult on Opening Day when aces collide all over the place. If I had to pick out one match-up today then I would go for Verlander-Greinke, closely followed by Johnson-Santana and Jimenez-Gallardo.\u00c2\u00a0 There are two other pitchers worthy of a special mention, The Indians\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Jake Westbrook and the Blue Jays\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Shaun Marcum both missed the entire 2009 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery (the replacement of the ulnar collateral ligament in their throwing elbow).\u00c2\u00a0 After a long period of rehab and recovery, their reward is an Opening Day start.<\/p>\n The Rockies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Jeff Francis also sat out the 2009 season following arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder. He was scheduled to make his return on Friday in Colorado\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s early game against the San Diego Padres, but that was put on hold after he experienced soreness after his final Spring Training outing in the same shoulder that was operated on.\u00c2\u00a0 One man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s misfortune creates an opportunity for another and in this case it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Greg Smith who gets a chance in the Rockies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rotation. (Edit:<\/strong> Smith pitched on Tuesday instead, taking a loss against the Brewers)<\/p>\n D-Train rolling again?<\/strong><\/p>\n The biggest comeback of the week has to be that of Detroit Tigers pitcher Dontrelle Willis.\u00c2\u00a0 His days as a top starting pitcher (not least his 2005 season with the Marlins: 22-10, 2.63 ERA) have seemed a distant memory over the last two years with Detroit.\u00c2\u00a0 He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s made just\u00c2\u00a014 starts during that period, putting up a 8.27 ERA, and he spent most of the 2009 season on the DL due to an anxiety disorder.\u00c2\u00a0 He was an afterthought heading into Spring Training, his expected contribution to the Tigers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00c2\u00a0assault on the AL Central division\u00c2\u00a0only being the problems caused by his $12m salary.<\/p>\n