Zim blast christens Nat Park  —  WASHINGTON - Ryan Zimmerman raised a fist when he rounded first, then tossed away his helmet as he approached the plate and the mass of teammates waiting to celebrate his game-ending homer.  —  The kid sure knows how to throw a housewarming party.

Confident Wang will start opener for Yankees  —  A hamstring injury prevented Chien-Ming Wang from traveling with the team to New York for Opening Day last year.  Today he'll have the honor of taking the mound against the Blue Jays on a historic day for the Yankees.

Ethier wins left-field job  —  Pierre forced to bench after hitting just .169 this spring  —  LOS ANGELES — Andre Ethier won the Dodgers' starting left-field job from veteran Juan Pierre and will start Opening Day vs. the Giants on Monday, Los Angeles manager Joe Torre announced Sunday.

Marlins pump up volume, not payroll  —  It's opening day and here's the Marlins' best pitch:  —  Come for the party.  Stay for the baseball.  —  For a franchise caught in limbo, that's about the best it can do to get fans in the stands.  —  The Marlins, always a tough draw in fickle South Florida …

Ziegel: Remember to forget  —  MIAMI - Remember the Alamo, if that's your idea of a good time, but forget about the Mets' final 17 games last season.  The five-game losing streak, the next five-game losing streak, the seven-game lead that disappeared in a hurry, the 11 different Mets pitchers who lost games in September.

Bondy: Fear is factor for Creatures of habit  —  So this is it, the beginning of the end below the Utz potato chip sign.  If there is such a thing as life after Section 39, then the Bleacher Creatures don't really want to know about it, not yet.  —  There are at least 81 games left in the old cathedral, Yankee Stadium.

Phillies finalize Opening Day roster  —  Philadelphia enters regular season carrying 11 pitchers  —  LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. — With no last-minute waiver claim or trade, the Phillies set their 25-man roster on Sunday in preparation for Monday's regular-season opener against the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park.

Report: BALCO founder working on tell-all book  —  Victor Conte will amp up the sports world once again — in a much different way, however.  —  According to the New York Daily News, the founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative is working on a tell-all book that he claims will spill the dirt on athletes and federal agents.

Orioles release Gibbons  —  Team responsible for paying $11.9 million left on outfielder's contract  —  The Orioles finalized their roster today, releasing veteran outfielder Jay Gibbons, who had been the second longest tenured member of the club.  —  With the move, the Orioles …

What Happened to Jason Bay?  —  One of the big mysteries of the 2007 season was the decline of Pirates' OF Jason Bay.  The question everybody has is how it happened.  —  Was it injuries?  Bay did battle knee discomfort for much of the 2007 season and was coming off arthroscopic knee surgery from the previous offseason.

New Rays DH Cliff Floyd is serious about his bowling  —  photo CAPTION: (03/26/2008 St. Petersburg, FL) Cliff Floyd is an avid bowler with a 210 average and may go pro after baseball.  STORY SUMMARY: Cliff Floyd kicking back  —  Times]  —  ST. PETERSBURG — Veteran outfielder Cliff Floyd signed …

A Journey to Baseball's Alternate Universe  —  Ithaca, N.Y.  —  WITH the baseball season under way and the memory of scandal in the sport so fresh, many fans yearn for an earlier era, a time when mythology mingled with baseball.  The sport's most mythic achievement is Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak …