Opening Day

Let us put aside petty differences to follow a summer tradition, ney, ritual. A right of passage passed down from father to son, from generation to generation, Opening Day of the baseball season. It's the time to dust off the old glove, drop an unhealthy amount of money (during a recession, and even more unhealthy if your planning on going to the New Yankee Stadium) and watch your favorite players take the field with the hopes and dreams that a World Series Championship is just months away from coming to your team.

Sure, the players are roided up. And, as Houston Astro Lance Berkman has said, not all of the players are on steroids, but there is a cloud of suspicion over the league. Instead of pointing out great players, and reminiscing about times when they saw Micky Mantle, Nolan Ryan, Tony Gwynn, Joe DiMaggio, so forth and so on, father's now tell their sons that they shouldn't necessarily put too much faith into their favorite player because you just never know if they will end up on another steroid list.

And sure the Yankees built a new stadium and dropped over $400 million on 4 new players. Sure, tickets that went for around $60 at old Yankee Stadium now go for almost triple that. Sure, it even has a Martini bar in case James Bond stops in to watch the Yanks take on the Red Sox. At least it's not Citi Field, the new home to cross town rivals, the New York Mets. While CitiBank was asking the government and receiving bailout money, they continued their promise to the people of Queens, by continuing to throw millions into their new stadium. And what did the US government, who holds a healthy percentage of CitiBank do? The government that fired AIG's CEO, and has held the auto industry hostage? They let CitiBank keep on building.

Meanwhile, Major League Baseball didn't allow money man, and maniac owner Mark Cuban to buy the Cubs from the failing Tribune Company, thanks to the good ol' boy back room politics of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and Chicago White Sox and Bulls owner, good friend, and Cuban hater Jerry Reinsdorf. In the end, however, the eventual buyer of the historic, lovable losers franchise (not to mention the Friendly Confines, Wrigley Field) went to a man who meet his wife in the bleachers of that very stadium, watching that very team, so it could have been worse, it could have been the conglomerate that controls Big Brown and I Want Revenge's stables. Wonderful business men cut from the same cloth as the Steinbrenners.

Oh, yeah, and there were some games played too. A day before the other 30 teams got to start, the Atlanta Braves ruined the banner waving celebration of division rivals, and World Series Champ, Philadelphia Phillies. The Phils probably thought they were going to roll over the Bravos but it was not to be, as once again, Bobby Cox shows why he will always remain the head coach in Atlanta as his young kids started pounding the ball early on against Brett Myers.

Monday saw the "rest" of the league Spring into action. Most notably CC Sabathia and the previously mentioned millionaire Yankees saw their team fall to the Orioles. And what may turn out to be the greatest thing for fans in Baltimore, scorned as they are, every time the Yanks come into town, they now get to boo hometown boy Mark Texiera. Tex, who was a free agent this off season choose the Yankees over the O's, saying that he's always been a Yankees fan. And in true Hilary Clinton fashion (born a Cubs fan, ran for congress in NY and said she was a life long Yankees fan) ESPN's bio-blast reported that the Annapolis born, Mr. Maryland High School baseball star, was in fact, an Orioles fan. But, money has a funny way of changing your allegiances, right Johnny Damon?

The Cubbies held on to a lead, as the cardiac Cubs look to end a [editors note: this will not be spoken out loud until the season is over] with a win over Roy Oswalt and the Astros. And, as quoted in the movie Major League: "You can always tell how the season will go by the first batter". And with that, Alfanso Soriano blasted the second pitch he saw over the left field fence.

Other games happened. Both early Cy Young hopefuls Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cliff Lee of the Cleveland Indians got rocked last night. Hanley Rameriez hit a grand slam. And several games got called due to weather. With the entire season in front of us, let's let out the true Summer war cry, in the words of the great Ernie Banks, aka Mr. Cub, "Lets play two".