Watched The Debuts Of New York's New Ballparks On MLB.TV

I saw the debut of Citi Field and the New Yankee Stadium on MLB.TV yesterday. Both home teams won their openers at the new ballparks, as they should have.
In Citi Field, Francisco Rodriguez got the save in a nailbiter of an exhibition game as the Mets defeated the Red Sox 4-3.




















Robinson Cano hit the first homerun out of New Yankee Stadium,followed by Brett Gardner and Cody Ransom hitting homeruns off of each foul pole, as the Yankees defeated The Cubs 7-4.

MLB Preview: AL East

The 2008 season saw the rise of the Tampa Bay Rays, saw the Red Sox make the playoffs, and saw the Yankees say goodbye to "The House That Ruth Built" as well as miss the playoffs. The Yankees went on a Spending Spree in the offseason, luring CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixiera to the Bronx.

What is in store for 2009? Let's have a look.
NEW YORK YANKEES

the 2009 New York Yankees will open their new ballpark with CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Texiera, but they will open the season without Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod had surgery and will miss perhaps a month. When he does return, it will be interesting to see how fans will react now that he has revealed that he took steroids when he was with the Texas Rangers.

This Yankees ballclub will score runs in bunches. A-Rod, Teixiera, Posada, and Brett Gardner will be expected to produce.

Yankees Manager Joe Girardi has decided to flip-flop his batting order, batting Derek Jeter leadoff and Johnny Damon second. This is to avoid Jeter from hitting into double plays, and it answers the Trivia question, "Who was the first Yankee to bat in the New Yankee Stadium?"

This Yankees ballclub looks great on paper. Nothing short of a World Series victory will satisfy these fans.
BALTIMORE ORIOLES

The baltimore Orioles have Nick Markakis, and many other questionmarks. How will Koji Uegara fare in Major League Baseball? For many years he was Japan's second best pitcher, behind Daisuke Mastuzaka. Will Adam Eaton and Rich Hill fare in their new teams? Will Felix Pie finally become consistent?
Expect the Orioles to fight with Toronto for the cellar.
TAMPA BAY RAYS

The Tampa Bay Rays were the Cinderella Story of the 2008 season. They went from Cellar Dweller to American League Champions in just one season. Stars like Evan Longoria and Scott Kazmir shined this past season. David Price starts the Rays season in the bullpen. Expect him to head back to Tampa in May. What will the Rays do for an encore? Looking back on the history of the teams who have lost the World Series, the 2006 Tigers,and the 2007 Rockies have regressed. I am also expecting the Rays to endure a "World Series Hangover." I am not expecting them to finish better than third place this season.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS

The Toronto Blue Jays will be stuck in another mediocre season. They will not have much behind Roy Hallday. Vernon Wells and Scott Rolen will be most of the ble Jays offense in 2009.

BOSTON RED SOX

Dustin Pedroia was the smallest man in the Red Sox clubhouse, and he ended up taking home American League MVP Honors. The Red Sox and their rotation are stacked. Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Mastuzaka,and Tim Wakefield. Let's not forget about the former Dodger Brad Penny and the longtime Atlanta Brave John Smoltz who is expected to head to Boston in July.

Offensively, Dustin Pedoria and David Ortiz will crush the ball. It will be interesting to see how Jason Bay will do in his first full season in Boston.

My Division Projections
1. NEW YORK YANKEES
With the money spent on this team, they will be expected to win the division. It will be a huge dissapointment if they don't.
2. Boston Red Sox
Their rotation is Scary Good.
3. Tampa Bay Rays
Last Season's AL Champs will encounter a World Series hangover.
4. Toronto Blue Jays
Roy Halladay is the team's best player, but he needs a lot of help.
5. Baltimore Orioles
They are still two years away from competing in the AL East.

In our next MLB Preview, we will preview the AL Central. Will The White Sox repeat as division Champions? What will the Twins do in their final season in the Metrodome? How will Kerry Wood and Maek DeRosa help the Indians? Find out in the next MLB Preview.

CC Sabathia To Start Both Yankees Openers

CC Sabathia will start the Yankees regular season opener and the opener at New Yankee Stadium.

Is anyone suprised by this? Of Course not.

C.C Sabathia Heading To The Bronx

The Bronx is Burning again.

The New York Yankees signed the best pither in the Free Agent Market to a record breaking contract.

Sabathia and the Yankees agreed to a seven year, $161 Million dollar contract, the largest ever for a pitcher.

Sabathia makes the Yankees the owners of Baseball's Best Rotation, and they are reportedly not done yet, as the Yankees are also trying to sign Derek Lowe and A.J. Burnett.

When the Yankees play the Cleveland Indians on April 16th in the first regular season game in the new Yankee Stadium, C.C Sabathia, the 2007 AL Cy Young Award Winner, could be opposed by Cliff Lee, the 2008 AL Cy Young Award Winner.

Chicago Cubs Will Officially Play First Series At New Yankee Stadium

Before the New York Yankees play the Cleveland Indians in the 2009 MLB Season Opener, they will play an exhibition series in the New Yankee Stadium.

The Cubs will play the Yankees on Friday night April 3 and again the following afternoon.

The ballpark is scheduled for substantial completion by Feb. 17.

The Chicago Cubs are managed by Lou Pinella, who won two World Series Championships with the New York Yankees.

The Yankees open the season April 16th against the Cleveland Indians.

Cubs May Play First Actual Game At New Yankee Stadium

The Chicago Cubs may play the first actual game at New Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees and Cubs are talking about playing an exhibition game or series the weekend before most teams open the regular season, on Monday, April 6.

The Cubs are the Yankees first choice, while other teams are still negotiating.

April 16th is the official coronation of New Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will play the Cleveland Indians.

At Yankee Stadium's Final Game, Yankee Fans Reflect

I was watching the final game to ever be played at Yankee Stadium. All night, ESPN was analyzing the quote by Babe Ruth after he hit his first homerun at Yankee Stadium.
"God only knows who will hit the last one."
It turned out to be Jose Molina who hit the last homerun at Yankee Stadium.

It was so fitting that Mariano Rivera went 1-2-3 in the ninth for the final save at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees won 7-3.

All of the Yankee Legends came out: Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Don Larsen, Tino Martinez, Reggie Jackson, and many more came out to see the last game at Yankee Stadium.

The players did a victory lap around Yankee Stadium, and Derek Jeter called on the fans to "transplant the history of this Yankee Stadium to the New Yankee Stadium."

I remember when the Cardinals were getting ready to move into the new Busch Stadium. I am the type of guy that loves the historic ballparks. Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium.

I was sad to see Busch Stadium go, but the new Busch Stadiumn is beautiful.

I am sad to see Yankee and Shea Stadium go. Hopefully, their new ballparks live up to the hype.

The House Tax Payers Built

What's the point of this complaining? I's not like the Yankees are going to start to use taxpayer money to build it, or delay moving into the new Yankee Stadium.

Yanks unearth Sox jersey from new park

BOSTON -- Hours before the Yankees and Red Sox prepared to face off again at Fenway Park on Sunday, the rivalry was alive and well in the Bronx, where jackhammers rocked a concrete corridor at the future Yankee Stadium site in search of a prankster's hidden David Ortiz jersey.
For those who find such superstition credible and feared a Yankees curse, fear not. The Bombers yanked the Red Sox jersey out of the new ballpark's structure in a photo opportunity ceremony on Sunday afternoon, with construction workers removing the illicit article.

Yankees team president Randy Levine and chief operating officer Lonn Trost were present on Sunday at the site, as workers removed the jersey from two feet of concrete in a service corridor. The jersey, plucked from a two-by-three foot hole, was a home white Red Sox article bearing designated hitter Ortiz's name and number.

The New York Post reported that the culprit was Gino Castignoli, a 46-year-old Bronx resident and Red Sox fan. Castignoli told the newspaper that he buried the jersey at the construction site last summer while working at the stadium.

(Click On The Video Below to see Casignoli tell his side of 'Jerseygate')



The Yankees originally denied the story after their records indicated that the jersey could not have been buried near the Yankees' future clubhouse, as an original report on Friday indicated. Two workers told a construction manager that they remembered Castignoli, and they led the supervisor to a service corridor near the site of the planned Legends Club restaurant -- behind home plate and toward the third-base side.

According to the newspaper, workers dug for five hours on Saturday with jackhammers, finding the jersey at 3:25 p.m. ET and notifying Yankees officials.

The Yankees plan to donate the jersey to charity, and they may pursue a lawsuit against the construction worker, according to The Associated Press.

Perhaps Castignoli selected the wrong Red Sox star to encapsulate at the Yankee Stadium site. Ortiz went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in Boston's 4-3 victory over New York on Saturday, lowering his batting average to a dismal .070 after 12 games.

Report: Worker tries to jinx Yanks with buried Red Sox shirt

A Worker tried to plant a curse on the Yankees and New Yankee Stadium.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK - Say it ain’t so, George!

A construction worker on a concrete crew at the new Yankee Stadium secretly buried a Red Sox T-shirt under the future visiting clubhouse in an effort to jinx the Yankees, the New York Post reported Friday.

The paper cited two construction workers it did not identify, saying they were not authorized to speak with the media. One of the workers said the T-shirt was poured in a slab in the visitor’s clubhouse.

“It sounds like a tall tale, and it would take more than a Red Sox T-shirt to put a curse on the Yankees,” team spokesman Howard Rubenstein was quoted as saying.

The Yankees move to the new ballpark in 2009.

My Take:
Yankees-Red Sox is in the air! Can You Feel It? The Greatest Rivalry in Sports is about to extend into the next generation. If the story is true, nice job by the construction workers! They did they're part to keep the Yankees-Red Sox fire burning!

BTW, The Yankees beat Boston 4-1 Friday. The only offense for Boston coming from a J.D. Drew Solo Homerun.

On Saturday, Fox will have Yankees-Red Sox from Fenway Park! Mike Mussina is pitching for the Yankees, opposed by Fireballer Josh Beckett. I expect this game to come down to the bullpen, as both starters could be bailed out by their team's potent offense as long as the starters pitch well in the game.

Watch Yankees-Red Sox Saturday on Fox and Sunday Night On ESPN!

Three Days Into Baseball Season...

Here's What I've Observed...
KANSAS CITY SWEEPS DETROIT
There is optimism in Kansas City, especially after the upstart Royals swept their much hyped division rival Detroit Tigers. This was Kansas City's first opening sweep since 2003. Kansas City fought to come back in Game one as they beat Detroit 5 to 4 in eleven innings. In the second game, Kansas City Starter Brian Bannister held Detroit to just three hits as Kansas City beat Detroit 4 to nothing. In the final game, Zack Grienke had a great pitching performance. Grienke allowed one run in seven innings of work.

And, Speaking of Great Pitching...
ROOKIE PHENOM JOHNNIE CUETO STRIKES OUT TEN DIAMONDBACKS
History was made at Great American Ballpark as Johnnie Cueto became the first Reds pitcher since 1900 to strike out ten batters in his major league debut. The only hole in the armor was Justin Upton's solo homerun in the sixth inning.

Some Reds fans may think they have their own version of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood in Homer Bailey and Johnie Cueto, but I would like to caution them: You're with a manager who likes to overwork young pitchers and likes to keep them in ballgames when they have been on the mound a very long time. I would not be suprised if Bailey and Cueto got the same type of problems Prior and Wood have gotten from being overworked in the Dusty Baker Era.

KOSUKE FUKUDOME WITH AN INCREDIBLE " KONNICHIHA" TO WRIGLEY'S FAITHFUL
Kosuke Fukudome had an unbelievable debut opening day. He doubled off Ben Sheets in his first Major League At Bat. Fukudome came through huge in the ninth inning, as he hit a game tying, three run homerun to tie the game at three. Fukudome batted .1000 at the end of Opening day as he went 3-3.

Through his first three games, Fukudome is 4-8 with three RBI'S, and three of his four hits have gone for extra bases.

Kosuke's the real deal. Teams will be trying to figure him out all season long, so he may be able to keep his hot streak going for a while.

WALKS WILL KILL YOU IN EXTRA INNINGS. JUST ASK THE NATIONALS!
The Philladelphia Phillies defeated the Washington Nationals 8-7 as Jason Werth helped score the tying run on a bases loaded walk. Werth never got thrown a strike, and Philly gets an important early lesson on why it is important to be selective at the plate.

NEW YORK'S GOING OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW
Both New York teams are getting new ballparks next season. Shea Stadium, opened in 1964, will close down after this season. The "Cathedral Of Baseball" The "Big Ballpark In The Bronx" Yankee Stadium, opened in 1923, will also close down. The Mets are moving to Citi Field, while the Yankees are moving a few streets down to New Yankee Stadium. I'm sad to see both ballparks go because there have been many great players and great moments that have happened at these ballparks.