G's Up, Ho's Down-Yankee opening night

The beginning and end of the baseball season are always my favorite times of the year, if only because there are more sports going down around this time than any other part of the year. In October, you could potentially have playoff baseball, mid-season NFL, and early season NHL going down at the same time. And in April, you normally have early baseball, the end of the NHL and NBA seasons, and the upcoming, if overrated NFL draft. Good time to be alive. Especially last night when the Yankees opened their season, Pedro made his '08 debut, the Devils played the Isles, and locally in DC, the Caps played the 'Canes in far and away their most important game since the lockout. I took it all in at RFD, across the street from the Verizon Center, though most of my attention was on the Yankees:

G's up: Yankees. Methodically took care of business against Halladay, even though he was more on his game than CMW. Congrats to Joe Girardi for his first win in a real league.

Ho's down: Jason Giambi, 1st baseman, 5th hitter. Really Joe? We're going to pretend that it's 2003 and Jason Giambi can be a productive member of society, let alone the Yankees? Why exactly are you doing this? 2 thoughts: 1. Dougie Baseball (Mientkiewicz) hit .277, 5 home runs and provided stellar defense. Do you really need any more from this from a first baseman when the middle of our infield should challenge for the batting title and our 3rd baseman is A-Rod? Wouldn't you be better off with the guy who plays gold glove defense, can bunt, and hits about .280 over the the guy who hits his share of hrs, but is terrible defensively and makes us look agonizingly old and slow? This team doesn't need another guy who can hit home runs (Though when you look at the Yankee lineup, A-Rod is our only pure home run hitter.) It needs someone who can get his share of hits, bunt guys over, and play some defense.


Ho's down: My Jason Giambi assessment, for one night at least. Giambi didn't really hit last night, but that's ok, most of the team didn't hit either. They will (hopefully) as the season moves on. But was it just me or did Giambi have a good night running the bases and playing defense? At one point, he avoided a double play by making the 2nd baseman tag him, which Aaron Hill didn't do. And my eyes might be deceiving me, but I think he made a few nice scoops on throws as well as a nice catch on a line drive.

G's up: Melky Cabrera. Taken by themselves, Melky hit a home run that is a fly out in the other 29 stadiums, and made two catches which were each probably a 6.5 out of 10. But the fact that he did all three of these in the same game, including his two catches on back to back plays, makes it Melky's world.

Ho's down: YES. Hey did you realize that this is the Yankees' last year in Yankee Stadium? OMG, I had no idea! You mean this is their last year playing in the House that Ruth Built? Is there any station that can show me every single highlight that has ever gone down in this stadium? Wait, there is? YES will be there for me? Fantastic! Man, this is going to be a long and nauseating season as far as reminiscences go.

G's up: Our relievers. Something to be said for getting a run in the 7th, going up 1, and then realizing that the game is over, as it's Joba/Mo time. And a quick anecdote-I was about to head out last night after the 7th inning, but I really wanted to see Joba pitch. This was the first time I can remember wanting to stay and watch a Yankee pitch. That's probably the nicest thing I can say about Joba right now.

Ho's down: Tonight's nationally televised game. And by that of course I mean the Yankees' starting pitcher, one Michael L. Mussina. Predicted pitching line: 3 1/3 innings, 7 runs, 8 hits, 2 bb, 1 k, and a grand slam by either Rios or Wells that knocks out Mussina in the 4th.

Some other thoughts from the evening:
-Props to Pedro for having everything go wrong. What's worse than hitting the first batter of the year? How about a 2 run-homer by potential hall of famer Dan Uggla. But what could possibly be worse than that? How about a pulled hammy in the 4th. There's a burning lower case "t" on your front lawn Pedro, time to leave. And ladies and gentlemen, presenting your #2 and 3 starters...Oliver Perez and John Maine! (Still not a bad 2 and 3 if you get the expected hitting and Johan.)

-Props to the Washington Capitals, owning their game against the 'Canes. Both teams now travel to Florida, to play a game apiece against Tampa and Florida for the Southeast Division and a playoff spot.

-Also props to the Devils, for clinching a playoff spot and a likely date with the Rangers, who they are 0-7 against, in the first round this year.

The best possible Eastern conference playoff matchups as far as old time rivalries are concerned: Pitt/Philly, Montreal/Boston, Washington/Ottawa, Devils/Rangers. 3 bonafide rivalries and in the Caps/Sens series, a chance for Ovechkin to shine on the national stage (or at least, as much of a national stage as Gary Bettman will ever let the NHL have.) Oh, and if it's Devils/Rangers, I'm picking Rangers in 3.