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.
Joel Sherman / Hardball:
3 UP: PELFREY/WANG, CITI FANS AND HUDSON — 1. Mike Pelfrey and Chien-Ming Wang share much in common. They are big righties who depend to a large degree on heavy, sinking fastballs for groundballs and efficiency. They both were slotted into the No. 2 spots in their respective rotations behind lefty aces.
Joshua Robinson / New York Times:
Mike Piazza Leaves Quickly, and Quietly, After Citi Field Ceremony — Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza entered Citi Field on Monday night the same way they closed Shea Stadium last fall — arms around each other's shoulders, bathed in camera flashes and thunderous applause.
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
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 …
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Joe Lapointe / New York Times:Fidrych Remembered for Remarkable Season and Endearing Antics
Discussion:
The Daily Fungo, Tiger Tales, Bless You Boys, The Joy of Sox, Batter's Box Interactive …, MVN and Dodger Thoughts
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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Jim Salisbury / Philly.com:Phils announcer Harry Kalas dies
Discussion:
The Good Phight, Bucs Dugout, Sox and Pinstripes, Federal Baseball, Can't Stop The Bleeding and Deadspin
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 …
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Adam Kilgore / Boston Globe:Sox lose, 8-2 — THERE'S YOUR BALLGAME (12:52, END 9, 8-2 A's)
Discussion:
Athletics Nation
Sam Mellinger / Mellinger's Blog on the Royals …:
Just leave Joakim Soria alone, and let him become one of the game's great closers instead of, say, Dave Bush — Ron Mahay gives up consecutive singles to start the ninth inning, turning what should've been an easy end to a win over a struggling team into real, cover-your-eyes drama.
Discussion:
Royals Review
Beck / Beck's Blog:
Tigers-White Sox rained out, rotation shuffled — Updated with pitching matchups in bold ... The first cold, rainy day of the season in the Motor City proved too wet for the Tigers and White Sox. Tuesday's scheduled afternoon game has been postponed. — Rain was intermittent all morning and into the early afternoon.
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 …
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
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.
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:
SOX & Dawgs, Projo Sox Blog, Center Field, The Joy of Sox and The House That Dewey Built
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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
Cjennings / Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees Blog:
Potential call-ups — With the New York bullpen used up last night — and the eighth man in the bullpen, Nick Swisher, probably (hopefully) not available to pitch Tuesday — chances are good the Yankees will call-up someone from Triple-A. I'm not with the team in Buffalo …
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:
Angels seeking respite on road, ‘still numb’ from Adenhart's death — It may be weeks if not months before any semblance of normalcy return to their lives, but the Los Angeles Angels hope to find their sanctuary on the road. — They begin a six-game trip tonight in Seattle …
Discussion:
PE.com
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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Ken Gurnick / MLB.com:
Scully to throw first pitch at home opener — Game will include former Dodgers stars, live music and more — PHOENIX — Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully will throw out the ceremonial first pitch in Monday's Dodgers home opener against the Giants at Dodger Stadium.
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