Tape of Sheppard to introduce Jeter  —  Legendary ‘Voice of Yankee Stadium’ will announce captain  —  NEW YORK — Bob Sheppard's voice will be at Yankee Stadium after all for Monday's season opener, the final Opening Day in the ballpark's history — although he will be heard for just one batter.

Plenty of empty seats for a ‘sellout’  —  The Orioles announced a sellout for their regular-season opener today at Camden Yards, which probably evoked a measure of skepticism from anyone looking for companionship in the upper deck above left field.  —  To be fair, the team is entitled …

Back from D.C. ...  is it opening day?  —  Now that the Braves have done a whirlwind trip to D.C., helped open a new park and provided almost no offensive support for Tim Hudson (sound familiar?), time to open the season for real tonight against the Pirates at Turner Field.  —  What's that?

Opening Third Day is Here  —  Our long winter wait has finally come to an end.  After a couple of “for real” games in Japan as well as the stateside opening night unveiling Washington's new ballpark yesterday, we get treated to a full slate of games for the first time in six months.

Spiezio, cut after offseason troubles, signs minor league deal with Braves  —  ATLANTA (AP)—Scott Spiezio will try to return to the majors with a team that rarely takes a chance on troubled players.  —  Spiezio agreed Monday to a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves …

Saga of No. 21 begins with respect  —  Ensberg defers to O'Neill; Hawkins wears number for Clemente  —  NEW YORK — Twenty-one is one of those numbers that carries a little extra meaning in the eye of the beholder.  It can be blackjack, it's the legal age to buy a beer at Yankee Stadium, and — for many fans — it's Paul O'Neill.

Professor Puts a Face on the Performance of Baseball Managers  —  The baseball season began in earnest this week, with 750 major league players and 2,430 games ready to collide and create countless millions of data — which the game's devotees (who have included Nobel laureates) …

Cubs' Zambrano leaves with forearm cramp  —  CHICAGO (AP)—Chicago Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano left Monday's opener against the Milwaukee Brewers in the seventh inning with a cramp in his right forearm, right after making a pickoff throw to second base.  —  Milwaukee's Bill Hall hit a one-out double …

Yanks pull plug on Joba's radio gig  —  It long has been a battlefield in the local sports talk radio wars: Sign players for paid spots and hope they attract attention (and perhaps listeners), or at least show up on time.  —  Sometimes that means sparks and/or headlines (see Jeremy Shockey …

Happy New Year! (ignore the outcome, concentrate on the fact that there's baseball)  —  Is this the tradition now?  The Tigers enjoy the concept of Opening Day so much that they can't stand the thought of only having 9 innings of it?  Remember last year, which went, what, 10 innings? before Fernando Rodney blew it.

Kielty accepts PawSox assignment  —  Red Sox outfielder Bobby Kielty accepted his assignment to Triple-A Pawtucket tonight, electing not to ask for free agency to hook on elsewhere.  —  On Sunday, Kielty said there was a possibility another undisclosed big league team would be offering him a job this week …

Nats score 5 in 9th, beat Phillies 11-6  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP)—The Washington Nationals took their late-inning act on the road.  —  Nick Johnson's tiebreaking RBI double off Tom Gordon highlighted a five-run ninth inning and the Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 11-6 Monday.

Doing well with homer odyssey  —  LOS ANGELES - Yesterday was odyssey day No. 12, the final day in southern California.  Last night the Red Sox were scheduled to fly to San Francisco.  Their next opener is tomorrow night at Oakland.  Friday they open Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Marlins' $21 million payroll is insulting  —  Ah, Opening Day.  The crack of the bat.  The smack of the glove.  The Marlins fan looking over the new roster and asking, full of optimism, “Will any team be more profitable?”  —  Because let's not lie.  Let's not ignore the 800-pound gorilla …