What a disaster

That is all I have to say.

Nice job of ruining everyone’s memories of opening day in the new Yankee Stadium, Jose Veras and Damaso Marte.

Home cooking

The Yankees have won 11 straight home openers dating back to 1998.  Their last loss came on April 11, 1997 against Oakland when they fell 3-1.

David Cone, who will take part in the pregame ceremonies today, struck out 12 in seven shutout innings and left with a 1-0 lead.  However, Mariano Rivera blew that lead in the ninth, surrendering a leadoff home run to Mark McGwire.  They would go on to lose in the 12th inning, when Jeff Nelson, who had already pitched two innings, gave up two runs.  Ironically enough, Scott Brosius drove in Oakland’s second run in that inning.

And even more ironic, Jason Giambi played left field for the A’s, going 1-for-4 with a walk.

The 11-game winning streak for home openers is a major league record, according to Elias.  The Yankees’ victory last year broke a tie with the 1945-54 Pittsburgh Pirates.

Some other interesting nuggets from today’s game notes:

Yogi Berra is throwing out the ceremonial first pitch for the seventh time in a home opener, and is one of eight former Yankees to have such an honor.  Only Joe DiMaggio (nine) has thrown more first pitches.

Derek Jeter was the last Yankee to bat at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 21.  He is scheduled to bat leadoff today.  Jeter and three others (Johnny Damon, Robinson Cano and Hideki Matsui) were in the lineup for the final game at Yankee Stadium last season and will be in the lineup today.

The Yankees defeated Boston on April 18, 1923 4-1, winning the first home opener in Yankee Stadium.  They defeated Minnesota on April 15, 1976 to win the first home opener in the remodeled Yankee Stadium.

The Empire State Building will be lit up blue and white in honor of today’s game.

This is the first time since 2000 (Comerica Park in Detroit) that a new park will be opened in the American League.  Nine National League teams have opened stadiums during that span.

Yankees lineup in 1923:

Whitey Witt – CF
Joe Dugan – 3B
Babe Ruth – RF
Wally Pipp – 1B
Bob Meusel – LF
Wally Schang – C
Aaron Ward – 2B
Everett Scott – SS
Bob Shawkey – RHP

The Yankees were 4,133-2,430-17 in the original Yankee Stadium.

Break out the Nelly

In honor of Opening Day, I figured it would be appropriate to play "Heart of a Champion" by Nelly. This song was a staple of the old Yankee Stadium, as it would play before the team took the field. For those who are wondering, they did play this song on Saturday.



Ain't no way they can stop me now.

Happy Opening Day

This is truly one of the best days of the year. Every fan believes his or her team will be the last one standing in October. There's an unprecedented amount of hope, optimism and excitement around the country.

The quest for No. 27 begins today (weather permitting, of course). Unfortunately, I will be out most of the day, so I'm secretly hoping the rain will not hold off for completely selfish reasons only.

If they do play, enjoy the game. If the game is not played, you can blame me for causing the rain out.

The start of a new era

Today is the day we've all (figuratively) circled on our calendars: Opening Day.

Hearing those two words conjures up thoughts of summer, past successes and new beginnings. Today marks a new beginning.

Joe Torre, the man who managed the last 12 Opening Days is 3,000 miles west. While I'm happy he is where he is, something just doesn't seem right about that. For the first few games, it will be strange seeing Joe Girardi in his place.

The lineup has the same players, but the starting rotation has gotten much younger. This is what many Yankee fans are most excited about. Sure, they will have their struggles this year. But knowing that the future is promising puts a smile on everyone's faces.

Hopefully the rain will hold off and hopefully Chien-Ming Wang has forgotten about what happened last October.

I'll have the game preview up soon and a liveblog will follow that, so stay tuned.

Let's go Yankees!