Happy Opening Day!!

At long last the day is upon us. We wait all off-season and Spring Training for this day to arrive and it's finally here. Opening Day! It should be a national holiday. I'm at work now, but am cutting out at about 2pm EST to enjoy the day. It's raining here in Buffalo I think it's also raining in Baltimore. If today's game gets rained out I'm going to be really depressed.

Back at the end of February, I took a crack at predicting the Opening Day roster. Now that it's finalized, let's see how I did:

Predicted roster:
The offense: Jorge Posada, Jose Molina, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, A-Rod, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady, Hideki Matsui, Nick Swisher, Brett Gardner, Cody Ransom, Angel Berroa

The pitching: CC Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera, Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte, Dan Giese, Jose Veras, Phil Coke, Edwar Ramirez

Actual Roster:
The offense: Jorge Posada, Jose Molina, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady, Hideki Matsui, Nick Swisher, Brett Gardner, Cody Ransom, Ramiro Pena, Melky Cabrera

The pitching: CC Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera, Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte, Jonathan Albaldejo, Jose Veras, Phil Coke, Edwar Ramirez

I was close. I had Angel Berroa on the roster as the extra infielder, saying that the job was his unless a "dark horse candidate came out of nowhere." I guess Ramiro Pena is that dark horse. I'm a little surprised because I thought Berroa had a great spring. Admittedly, I don't know much about Pena. Could he be the next Alberto Gonzalez? Here today and gone before the year is out? Regardless, I don't expect either to get much PT.

I had A-Rod on the roster. It was before his injury. I didn't have Melky on the roster. I didn't think they'd carry 5 OFs, and I was wrong. I'm a little surprised but understand they don't want to lose him by releasing. Melky had a great spring and I'm sure that saved his neck. I don't think he'll get much PT, but who knows? I think Cody Ransom will do just fine as a fill-in for Alex. Steve at Yankees: Minor To Majors doesn't think so.

I also had Dan Giese on the roster as the long man. Girardi and company decided a long man wasn't needed and I can see that. They've got some horses in the rotation. With the exception of Joba, they all should be able to pitch deep into the ball games. There really isn't a need for a long man. The days of blowing out the bullpen early in the season are behind us. Knock on wood. So Jonathan Albaladejo gets the nod and I am down with that. I was a fan of that trade when Cashman made it before last season. I hope he stays healthy.

So first pitch is hopefully about 5 hours away. I'm really hoping the rain stays away. I'll probably be live-blogging the game. So feel free to stop by and watch.

The road to #27 starts today! I think it'll be a tough year with tough competition. As I predicted yesterday, I think they'll finish tied with Boston for first, but finish 2nd because of head-to-head records. But I think they'll win it all. I feel better about their chances this year then I have in recent years. They have the pitching and that's the key. Get the Canyon of Heroes ready cuz the boys are on their way!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Burnett Pitches A Snoozer

I was looking forward to watching last night's Yankee game. It was going to be my first live look at A.J. Burnett. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. I made it through about 3 hitters before I zonked out on the couch. I think I'm still recovering from a lack of sleep when I was up in Toronto for the WBC. What I do remember seeing was a guy with great velocity (fastball around 94-95) but very little control. I checked out the box score this morning and saw that he only lasted 3.1 innings, giving up 3 hits and 3 walks. That tells me he threw a lot of pitches and a lot of them were off the plate. Not an ideal start but if he can keep those runners from crossing the plate, it works for me. I was surprised to find he didn't allow the leadoff triple to score. He must have grinded his way through that game seeing as he only allowed 1 run. I still think A.J. will be great for the Yanks. He just needs to stay healthy, but then again, who doesn't?

I was also looking forward to seeing Mo pitch another inning. I guess i didn't miss much. 3 outs on 5 pitches. Nicely done Mariano. That's 2 scoreless/hitless innings for Mo this spring. 2 innings, 16 pitches, 11 strikes. Talk about vintage Mariano. So far, so good. The shoulder seems to be holding up.

Angel Berroa is looking really good this spring. When I predicted the Opening Day roster a few weeks ago, he was the last guy I picked. Angel is hitting .415 with an OPS of 1.112. He leads the time in hits, doubles, RBI, and total bases. Granted some of that is because he also has more at-bats than everyone (but Cody Ransom), but even still, damn, dude is tearing it up. Maybe he does make the squad? I can see it happening, especially if he finishes the spring strong.

Finally, Bob over at The Voice of Yankees Universe, sent me an e-mail about a new weekly feature called Bald Vinny's Roll Call. For those of you that don't know who Bald Vinny is, he is the unofficial leader of the Yankee Stadium Bleacher Creatures. Some of you may recognize him from season one of the YES Network's Ultimate Road Trip. Some of you may have seen him standing outside the Stadium (across the street of course) hawking t-shirts. I also think his mug is affixed to some ads over the urinals in Yankee Stadium bathrooms. I vaguely remember seeing that last time I was there. If none of those ring a bell, he's the voice you hear kicking off the roll call at the start of every Yankee game. Every week they'll be checking in with Vinny to get his thoughts. I checked out the first one this morning (prior to receiving Bob's e-mail) and it was a good read. I suggest everyone check it out. While you're at their site, you might also want to check out the contest their doing where you can win a copy of the book Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee. That should be a good book. Who doesn't love Yogi Berra?

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie