And so it begins!

Here’s some quick notes from Press Pass…

The New York Yankees will open the 106th season in franchise history today at Yankee Stadium with the first game of a three-game series vs. the Toronto Blue Jays…this season marks the 84th and final season of play at the current Yankee Stadium…originally constructed prior to the 1923 season, Yankee Stadium was remodeled in 1974 and 1975…the club will move into a new state-of-the-art Yankee Stadium across 161st Street in 2009.

The Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club begins its 32nd season of play in the American League…Own a record of 16-15 in Opening Day contests (8-10 on the road)…Have won each of their last three Opening Day contests dating back to 2005. Marks the 19th time that the Blue Jays have opened their season on the road (including ’96 in Las Vegas vs. OAK).

The Cleveland Indians are 56-51 (.523) on Opening Day in their 107-year history since 1901…Last year’s win at Chicago snapped a 4-game losing streak on opening day. Indians have opened the last 4 years against the White Sox…Last time the Indians opened at home was 2001 (just 4th time in PF since it opened ’94)  Today’s home opener is the earliest (March 31) in club history.

The Chicago White Sox open the 2008 season on the road this afternoon vs. the defending American League Central division-champion Cleveland Indians … left-hander Mark Buehrle, who ranked 10th in the AL in 2007 with a 3.63 ERA, makes his sixth career Opening Day start and third against the Indians. This marks the fourth consecutive season that the White Sox and Indians have played on Opening Day and the first since 2001 at Jacobs Field … the last time the Sox opened the season against the same opponent four times in a row was when they faced Cleveland on six straight Opening Days from 1952-57. The White Sox are 55-52 all-time on Opening Day, including a 31-29 record on the road … the Sox have won seven of their last 11 openers, but have dropped their last two on the road (2003-04 at Kansas City).

The Chicago Cubs open their 133rd National League season when they host the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs have a 73-57-2 all-time, Opening Day record … Chicago is 44-37 when opening the season on the road an d 29-20-2 when opening at home (includes the 2000 opener in Japan). The earliest the Cubs have opened a season  was March 29, 2000, when they beat the New York Mets 5-3 in Tokyo, Japan. The latest date the club has opened a season was May 8, 1877, in a 6-5 win over Hartford. The last Cubs pitcher to toss a complete game on Opening Day was Bill Bonham, who beat Philadelphia 2-0 on April 9, 1974.

The Milwaukee Brewers are set to open their 40th season as a franchise and their 11th season as a member of the National League…..the Brewers are 22-16-1all-time on Opening Day, including 8-4 at home and 14-12-1 on the road…..the Brewers are 6-3-1 on Opening Day since joining the National League in 1998…..they have won their last 4 Opening Day games.

San Francisco Giants won't be all that bad

Then of course we know they have a strong chance of not being that good either. Tim Lincecum pitched a beauty last night throwing five innings no-hit ball with nine strikeouts against the Athletics. Giants’ fans have enough reasons to be optimistic this season, Zito (bounce back year), Cain (with run support), and Lincecum (showing more of what he can do) that we’ll have some good moments during the season. Good or bad it’s guaranteed to be a unforgettable season.

Boxscore
Game Recap

No more distractions for Giants, a lot fewer home runs

The past three seasons, the Giants had Barry Bonds’ home run chase, his BALCO controversies and his tete-a-tetes with ESPN’s Pedro Gomez to distract from clubs with losing records.

The good news is that the drama is gone. The bad news is that the focus will return to the field, and the viewing between the lines might not be suitable for all audiences.

Last season, as Bonds marched past Hank Aaron, the other teams in the National League West left their boot prints on his teammates. The Giants were 26-44 vs. the NL West, and their .371 winning percentage was the worst of any major league team against within its division.