National League: Lucky #13?

Braveheart wins Best Picture at the Academy Awards, hosted by Whoopi Goldberg.

Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls set an NBA record with 70 wins in a single season.

Sublime's Bradley Nowell dies from a drug overdose and Tupac is gunned down.

I get my driver's licence and fill the red Beretta with $1.00 gallons of gasoline.

The year was 1996. It was a leap year in Philadelphia, marking the last time the National League won the All-Star game. The Senior Circuit will be looking for it's first win in 13 years this evening when they take on the American League in the 80th annual All-Star game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Pettitte Returns To Mound For Yankees

The New York Yankees' bringing back Andy Pettitte (possibly to lure Roger Clemens away from Houston) is supposed to help them get to the postseason. It's a pretty good plan, since he has helped them win four World Series titles.

Pettitte will make his first start for New York since Game 6 of the 2003 World Series (which they lost) when he faces the Devil Rays at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, the day after a postponement due to rain.

Jason Marquis Makes Chicago Debut

Jason Marquis, who signed a three-year, $20 million contract this offseason, will take the hill in an attempt to lead the Chicago Cubs to a season-opening series win Thursday.

Marquis went 2-9 with a 6.99 ERA in 12 outings with the St. Louis Cardinals last year, ending a poor season with an 0-4 mark and 7.25 ERA in his final five starts. He finished 14-16 to lead the NL in losses - his 6.02 ERA in 33 starts a career worst.

Chicago got some much-needed encouragement from Ted Lilly's debut Wednesday, a 4-1 victory over the Reds in which he struck out nine over seven good innings. The win was also Chicago's first under new manager Lou Piniella, who left baseball for a year after leaving Tampa Bay.

The Reds (1-1) will give Kyle Lohse the ball as the righty starts his first full season in Cincinnati after joining the team in a trade from Minnesota late last July. Lohse went 3-5 with a 4.57 ERA in 12 games, including 11 starts, for the Reds.

Lohse struggled in his only career start against the Cubs last season, allowing six runs and seven hits over three innings of an 11-4 defeat.

[MLB]

Josh Beckett Tries to Escape a KC Beatdown

The Kansas City Royals knocked the Sox off Boston on Opening Day, looking like the World Series contenders with the top-notch pitching staff. Okay, I won't go that far.

The Red Sox will try to get things turned around with Josh Beckett on the hill, continuing the three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals, who are coming off three straight 100-loss seasons, played like a new team on Monday, roughing up Curt Schilling and co. with a 7-1 victory. Schilling is supposed to be the ace of one of the better pitching staffs in the majors - with Beckett, Japanese sensation Daisuke Matsuzaka and knuckleballer Tim Wakefield - but he ended up getting knocked around for one of the shortest outings of his career. He was pulled before the fifth inning began after allowing five runs on eight hits. Then, he blogged about it, of course.

So, the Royals opened their season with a W for the third time in the last nine years with a variety of players stepping up, including starter Gil Meche, who left the game to a standing O when he was relieved after 7.1 innings.

Beckett, the former World Series MVP, finished 16-11 with a 5.01 ERA, and had a career-high 74 walks while giving up 36 homers, the second-most in the majors. The city of Boston is expecting a bit better from him in his second season with the team. Luckily, he is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in three starts against Kansas City.


Odalis Perez will make his first start for the Royals in an attempt to put a miserable 2006 behind him. The lefty finished 6-8 with a 6.20 ERA in 32 games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Royals. Perez is 0-1 with a 3.32 ERA in three starts against the Red Sox.

[MLB]

Arroyo Takes Hill For Cincy, Lilly Makes Debut

Aside from swooning the ladies with his guitar-playing skills, Bronson Arroyo will look to continue dominating the Cubs tonight at Great American Ballpark.

After leaving Boston for Cincinnati last March, Arroyo went 4-0 with a 1.01 ERA in five starts against Chicago, including wins in his first two outings as a Reds hurler. Not only did he strike out 26 Cubs in 35.2 innings, he homered in each of his first two games against the club last April.

Arroyo went 14-11 with a 3.29 ERA for Cincinnati in 2006 and led the majors with 240.2 innings pitched as the Reds' lone All-Star. He struck out 184 batters and tied teammate Aaron Harang for the NL lead with 35 starts.

Adam Dunn continues to have success against the Cubs, as well... then again, who doesn't? He's hit 30 homers and driven in 55 runs while batting .279 in 297 plate appearances against Chicago. BUT! Dunn has never faced Ted Lilly, who will make his Chicago debut Wednesday.

Lilly, a 31-year-old lefty who signed a four-year, $40 million contract this winter, posted a career high for wins with the Blue Jays last season, going 15-13 with a 4.31 ERA and 160 strikeouts.

Even with over-priced free agent acquisition Alfonso Soriano and a healthy Derrek Lee in the lineup, the Cubs managed just eight singles and scored their only run on a Cincinnati throwing error Monday.

"We are going to get off to a fast start," claimed Cubs manager Lou Piniella. "Just because you lose the first game doesn't mean ... It's just one ballgame."

Whatever you say, Lou.

Lee went 2-for-3 and Soriano went 1-for-4 with an infield single on Monday. Soriano has struggled in his career against Arroyo, going 1-for-15, striking out 5 times and driving in one run.

[MLB]

Jarrod Washburn, Joe Blanton Duel In Seattle

Seattle will look to take a second straight game from the A's and open 2-0 for the first time in 11 years when the two clubs continue their three-game series at Safeco Field tonight. The Mariners (1-0) took the first meeting with Oakland (0-1) last season, but lost the next 15 matchups on the way to a 2-17 season series record between the AL West rivals.

Jarrod Washburn will take the hill after a tumultuous 2006 season punctuated by an 8-14 record and 4.67 ERA in 31 starts. The lefty struggled against the A's last season along with the rest of the Mariners, going 0-2 with a 6.88 ERA in three starts. He is a career 7-12 with a 4.10 ERA in 28 appearances against Oakland.

The Athletics are counting on Joe Blanton, who gets the start after Esteban Loaiza was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with tightness in his shoulder. Blanton went 16-12 last season with a 4.82 ERA in 32 appearances, including 31 starts, tying Barry Zito for the team lead in wins. But his .309 opponents' batting average was the third-highest in the majors.

The righty owned the Mariners, however, posting a 1.55 ERA and winning all four of his starts against them last season. Blanton is a career 6-1 with a 2.50 ERA in eight starts versus Seattle.

[MLB]

Bruce Bochy Makes Debut Against Former Club

For the 13th straight year, manager Bruce Bochy will be in the dugout when the San Diego Padres open their season. Only this time, he'll be on the opposing bench along with Barry Bonds, who has been a thorn in his side over the past 12 years.

Bochy will make his managerial debut with Bonds and the San Francisco Giants today, kicking off a three-game series against the NL West rival Padres.

Despite gnawing allegations of steroid use, Bonds begins the season with 734 career homers, needing just 22 to break Hank Aaron's big league record. He has hit 85 bombs in his career versus the Padres - 22 more than against any other opponent.

Bonds won't be the only Barry attracting mass amount of attention for the Giants, as they send expensive offseason pickup Barry Zito to the mound for the opener. The 28-year-old lefty, who went 102-63 with a 3.55 ERA in seven seasons with Oakland and won the 2002 AL Cy Young award, hopped across the bay after signing a $126 million, seven-year contract with the Giants in January.

The Giants took 12 of 19 meetings in last season's series with the Pads, including five of nine in San Francisco.

The Padres enter this season with one of the NL's most impressive pitching staffs, including 25-year-old righty Jake Peavy, who leads Chris Young, future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux and 21-year veteran left-hander David Wells in the rotation.

Peavy, who gets the ball today, led the majors with a 2.27 ERA in 2004, and had an NL-high 216 strikeouts in 2005, but crapped-out with an 11-14 record and 4.09 ERA last season as he struggled with shoulder tendinitis.

The Padres will play without Mike Piazza, who departed for Oakland via free agency. Former backup catcher Josh Bard, who batted .338 in 93 games with San Diego last season, will take over the starting duties at catcher.

Veteran outfielder Brian Giles returns to anchor the lineup in his fourth full season with the Padres, hoping to rebound from a 2006 season where he hit .263 with 14 homers - both career lows.

[MLB]

Opening Day For The Rest Of Us: AL

I'm such a homer. Johan Santana will take his first step toward a third Cy Young in four seasons when the Twins open the season against lefty ace Erik Bedard and the Orioles.

Most of last season's team will return for Minnesota, led by Santana, who went 19-6 with a league-leading 2.77 ERA and league-best 245 strikeouts last season, tying the Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang for the big league lead in wins. Johan has a 2-1 record and 3.18 ERA in eight career starts against the Orioles, having not faced them since 2005.

Opening Day For The Rest Of Us: NL

Speaking of the Mets, the Atlanta Braves' incredible run of 14 straight division titles ended last season with New York's takeover of the NL East. While the Braves think they have what it takes to return to the top, the Phillies believe they're ready to become the new team to beat in the NL East.

The new underdogs will face an optimistic Phillies club Monday in the teams' season opener.

After finishing third in the East last season - six games behind Philadelphia and 18 behind the New York - the Braves found themselves under .500 for the first time since 1990 - one season before their run of division championships began.

The Braves ranked second in the league with 849 runs and first with 222 homers in 2006 with a potent middle of the order in Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann. They lost Adam LaRoche, however, who hit 32 homers and drove in 90 runs, and last season's leadoff hitter, Marcus Giles.

Veteran righty John Smoltz, who turns 40 in May, will take the hill for Atlanta. He went 16-9 with a 3.49 ERA last season, leading the team in wins and (232) innings pitched.


The Phillies, meanwhile, haven't reached the playoffs since 1993, but have stayed in contention for the wild card until the final weekend of the last two seasons. They led the NL with 865 runs last season and ranked third with 216 home runs, so the goal is to duplicate that performance this year behind a lineup led by 58-homer-hitting Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and hard-hitting second baseman Chase Utley.

Philly upgraded its pitching to complement its powerful lineup, adding Freddy Garcia and Adam Eaton to a rotation that includes Brett Myers, Cole Hamels and veteran lefty Jamie Moyer, a late-season acquisition from Seattle.

Myers, 12-7 with a 3.91 ERA last season, will get the start for Philadelphia in his first opening-day start. He's 4-5 with a 4.14 ERA in 16 starts against Atlanta and went 1-1 with a 3.55 ERA in five outings against them last season.

[MLB]

A Cure For Spring Fever

The regular season officially kicks off Sunday with an exciting National League matchup of the New York Mets vs. the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. Believe me buddies, we are PUMPED.

One week after his 41st birthday, Tom Glavine will start the Mets season opener for the fourth time in five seasons - the eighth time in his career. The veteran lefty has a 4-3 record in seven Openers and a 2-1 record with the Mets.

Glavine has had a pretty great spring, and a victory over the Cards on Sunday would put him within nine wins of 300. He won his only decision against them in the regular season and split two playoff starts against them last fall.

With a couple more wins and added support from the offense and bullpen, Chris Carpenter would have won a second straight Cy Young Award in 2006.

The righty has some nasty stuff, disciplined command and extreme durability with an arsenal of four pitches, all for strikes - fastball, curveball, cutter and changeup. He attempted to polish his change this spring, which wasn't necessary for one of the best righties in the game.