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.

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.

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 …

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.

Harper: Scouts down on Yanks' young arms  —  So the wheel officially begins to spin now on Brian Cashman's grand gamble to ride the Yankees' young pitching in 2008 and beyond.  And premature as it may be, there is no avoiding the question that will be asked countless times this season …

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 …

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 …

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.

From Views to Fastballs, Wagner Won't Hold Back  —  MIAMI — In late November, about a week after Tom Glavine signed with Atlanta, Billy Wagner told MLB.com that he viewed the Mets as a third-place team.  Within a few days, Wagner received a call from General Manager Omar Minaya, who asked if he was misquoted.

Unsung Braves built for October glory … We take you back in time to the first week of March.  The 2008 Grapefruit League was only a few days old.  But a National League scout already had caught on to something that hadn't yet dawned on the rest of the hemisphere.