Opening Day 2007 Observations

Posted By: Miss October

Ahh.. baseball is back! Although it didn’t end up being the nice, sunny day the meteorologists had promised, Opening Day at Yankee Stadium always signals the beginning of spring. Rather than provide a wrap up of the game action, I thought I would share some gameday observations (which are sometimes more entertaining than the game itself..)

Early exits…

Carl Pavano threw four pretty good innings before getting rattled in the 5th and exiting the game. For a guy who hasn’t pitched in a game in close to two years, I think four is a good starting point. Just finishing the outing without an injury is big progress. Then again, he was pitching against the Devil Rays.

Johnny Damon left the game in the sixth with cramps in his legs. Let’s hope it’s not anything serious..

Yankee announcer Bob Sheppard skipped out early, but a guy who has been a part of 57 opening days should have some flexibility. He was replaced by the Yankees ‘back up’ announcer who annoyingly tries to imitate Sheppard – as if he would trick everyone into believing they were listening to the ‘real deal.’

Tearful moments…

The video tribute to Corey Lidle to the song “I Will Remember You” by Sarah Mclachlan, along his widow and young son throwing out the ceremonial first pitch – both made great throws by the way – was tough to watch. It’s a shame the YES broadcast cut this bit to shreds and only showed quick highlights. I wonder if they would have handled it the same way if a ‘higher profile’ Yankee had passed away…

Another video tribute – this time to Yankee great Bobby Mercer – to Rod Stewart’s ‘Forever Young’ drew applause, but not as much as when they showed Bobby on the video screen from the YES booth. Bobby was diagnosed with brain cancer in December and is currently undergoing treatment. It was great to see him in person again, as he waved to the crowd. He also stopped by to broadcast a few innings with his YES colleagues. Get well soon....

Bleacher Creature roll call for Bernie Williams… I learned later that Bernie had called Joe Torre this morning to wish him luck. It’s still a shame he didn’t show up for spring training. We miss you!!

And finally…. Thumbs up to Captain Derek Jeter for getting the game-tying hit, Mariano Rivera looking like vintage Mo by striking out the side in the 9th, as well as A-Rod for his long home run late in the game. A-Rod’s day started a little shaky, but he ended up with two hits… I’m still hopeful he will get his act together this season...