Week Two

We just got back from the Os/Angels game, and, once again, had a great time.  It was a great day for a ballgame.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t such a good ballgame,

I watch a lot of baseball, and this was one of the strangest games I have seen.  Tejada was on first.  Javy Lopez hits a ball to center field.  The center fielder leaps, and comes back down on the warning track.  The umpires make NO SIGN.  Was it a home run?  Did he catch it?  I guess after waiting for 5 minutes, that Tejada figures he must have caught it, so he goes back to first.  Still NO SIGN.  Lopez actually runs into him on first.  Still NO SIGN.  Lopez passes him on the basepath.  Finally a sign.  It was out of the park, but since Javy passed Tejada, he was called out.  Shouldn’t there be some sort of 24 second clock for umpires?

Back to the season.  So far, so good.

The Os are 7 and 6 and have shown some promising signs.  Last year it seemed like if they were behind after the seventh inning that the game was over.  They have already had 2 ninth inning wins this year.

Except for Cabrera, who has walked more batters than the rest of the AL East combined (OK, a slight exaggeration), the starting pitching has been fair, and, although it doesn’t seem like it, the bullpen is at least as good as it was this time last year.

Yesterday, Melvin Mora said he was going to hit Cabrera in the ribs, so that he wouldn’t try to throw so hard.

No one in the AL East is scary yet.  As expected, the Yankees are scoring a lot of runs, but 30 of them were against the Royals (which is only slightly over their average Runs Allowed), and Rivera has blown more saves (1) than Papelbon, Ray, and B.J Ryan all put together.  Last year, they were changing their starting lineup almost every day trying to get the right mix.  This year, the starting lineup is about as good as they are going to get.  If it doesn’t get the job done, it doesn’t look like they have many other options.

Shilling and Beckett are looking very good, and even though they are giving up a lot of hits, Randy Johnson and Mussina seem to be on track.  The Blue Jay’s one-two of Halladay and Burnett doesn’t look great right now, but it’s too early to judge.  It would be nice if Burnett could stay healthy for the rest of the year, so we can see how good he really is.  For the Devil Rays, Kazmir hasn’t looked good, and it’s a shame Hendrickson is on the DL.

The Devil Rays have the same record as the Yankees against the Royals (3-0), and if they ever get all of their injured players back, I think they will win a lot of ballgames.  Even when they lose, they are an exciting team to watch.  I’m glad the Os had them for 6 games early this year, and maybe they will be back to something resembling fill strength when they play the rest of the AL East teams.

It’s hard to comment objectively about the Red Sox.  After all, they did sweep the O’s in week one, so anything I say will sound like “sour grapes.  They just don’t look like they are about to run away with it yet, but I think Manny will hit better than .205 and average more than 2 RBIs in 11 games.

I haven’t seen much of the Blue Jays, and I’m not a big believer in trying to judge much from box scores.

It’s been fun so far, and it looks like it will only get better.  Cabrera starts tomorrow, and it can only be entertaining.  Luckily, the Yankees get a much needed day off.