Top News:
Tom Krasovic / San Diego Union-Tribune:
Black tinkers with pitching rotation — NEW YORK - Manager Bud Black, exploiting Tuesday's open date, tweaked the pitching rotation so that No. 5 starter Shawn Hill will get two extra days of rest and Nos. 1 and 2 starters Jake Peavy and Chris Young will stay on normal rest.
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Mike Fitzpatrick / Associated Press:
San Diego 6, NY Mets 5 — NEW YORK (AP) — The place looked gorgeous. The Mets looked lost. — Jody Gerut christened Citi Field with a leadoff homer — the only time that's happened in major league history — and the San Diego Padres spoiled New York's first game in its glittering new ballpark with a 6-5 victory Monday night.
NY Daily News:
Madden: Mets can use room to grow — Pitcher's park? Mike Pelfrey doesn't think so after giving up a home run to Jody Gerut on the third pitch in Citi Field history. … The general consensus among Mets people is that Citi Field is going to be a pitcher's ballpark. The Mets can only hope.
Discussion:
Hot Foot
Ben Shpigel / New York Times:On Crisp Night, Mets Open Their Snappy New Ballpark
Discussion:
Archie Bunker's Army
Joe Lapointe / New York Times:
Mark Fidrych Remembered for Remarkable Season and Endearing Antics — The call came Monday in the late afternoon from Detroit — Mark Fidrych is dead! — and it took almost an hour to find the videotape. But there it was, from June 28, 1976, Yankees at Tigers, Monday Night Baseball on ABC, and the Bird seemed very much alive again.
Discussion:
The Daily Fungo, Tiger Tales, The Joy of Sox, Bless You Boys and Batter's Box Interactive …
RELATED:
USA Today:
Ex-big leaguer Mark “The Bird” Fidrych dead at 54 — From staff and wire reports — Former All-Star pitcher Mark “the Bird” Fidrych was found dead Monday in an apparent accident at his farm. He was 54. — Worcester County district attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. saids a family friend found Fidrych …
Lynn Henning / The Detroit News:
Former Tiger Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych dies at 54 — Mark Fidrych, a Detroit baseball icon who colorfully and forcefully burst upon the baseball scene in 1976, died Monday, according to the Worcester (Mass.) District Attorney's office. — Fidrych, 54, was reportedly found dead beneath …
Andrew Blankstein / L.A. Now:
Man stabbed after Dodger Stadium home opener — The Dodgers home opener against the San Francisco Giants was marred by violence Monday afternoon when a man was stabbed multiple times after getting into an argument with several men in a pickup truck, Los Angeles police said.
Discussion:
MLB FanHouse
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Jayson Stark / ESPN:
Philly won't be the same without Kalas — Hall of Fame voice of the Phillies died Monday at the age of 73 … PHILADELPHIA — He was so much more than the voice of the Phillies. Harry Kalas was the Phillies. — He didn't just describe the games. His voice took hold of those games and made them his personal amphitheater.
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Michael Silverman / Boston Herald:
Jon Lester, Red Sox go quietly — Fall flat again in loss to A's — + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email — OAKLAND, Calif. - The mystery of the Red Sox [team stats]' 2009 identity theft only deepened last night. — Another poor effort from the offense and Jon Lester …
RELATED:
Adam Kilgore / Boston Globe:Sox lose, 8-2 — THERE'S YOUR BALLGAME (12:52, END 9, 8-2 A's)
Discussion:
Athletics Nation
Rob Bradford / Full Count:
Lowrie Heading to D.L. Due to Wrist Injury — Jed Lowrie, who has been sent back to Boston in order to undergo tests on his left wrist (the same one that suffered a non-displaced fracture last season), will be placed on the 15-day disabled list. The shortstop informed team officials …
Discussion:
Projo Sox Blog, SOX & Dawgs, Center Field, The Joy of Sox and The House That Dewey Built
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Pena, Rays rough up Wang as Kazmir stymies Yankees — ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — On a night they raised the first championship banners in franchise history, the Tampa Bay Rays also exhibited why they feel capable of getting back to the postseason. — Carlos Pena hit a grand slam and drove …
Matt Welch / Blood Diamond:
MADD about Nick Adenhart — When I first conceived of writing this True/Slant blog about “the violent intersection between politics and sports,” I was thinking more along the lines of stadium welfare and senile blowhards like Sen. Jim Bunning (R-1964 Phillies) than, well, violent intersections.
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Carroll Rogers / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Ex-Braves pitcher enjoys life on the farm — Gene Garber lives on a farm a mile from the one where he grew up in Lancaster County, Pa. As he likes to say, he hasn't gotten very far in life. — That might be true. Unless you consider that in between those stops, Garber pitched in 931 major-league games …
Discussion:
Hardball Times
Thomas Boswell / Washington Post:
It's Time To Get Serious — The Phillies, as might be expected of world champions and friends, bid farewell to their beloved broadcast voice of the last 38 years, Harry Kalas, who died yesterday, in the utterly inadequate but nevertheless appropriate way. They won a ballgame they hardly wanted to play.
Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
Teixeira's left wrist injury not serious — MRI reveals just inflammation; should be back Tuesday — ST. PETERSBURG — An MRI examination on Mark Teixeira's sore left wrist offered the Yankees slugger peace of mind on Monday, as the results assured him that his injury is nothing more than inflammation.
Discussion:
River Avenue Blues
Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com:
MLB ready to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day — All uniformed personnel asked to wear No. 42 Wednesday — By request of Commissioner Bud Selig, as Major League Baseball celebrates the 62nd anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking its color barrier on Wednesday, all big league players …
