Finally the day has arrived. The waiting is over, the ground shimmered in all its majestic glory. Yogi, in his blazer, has thrown out the 1st pitch. "Ladies and Gentlemen, here are your New York Yankees"… LETS PLAY BALL…

Firstly I have to mention one institute of Yankee Stadium  that was missing today. Bob Sheppard, the voice of the Yankees for 56 years had a misfortune last night and put out his hip. He is expected to play in the commentary position against Baltimore on Saturday 21st. Get Well Soon Bob.

After Chein-Ming Wang worked a 1-2-3 1st, Johnny Damon’s 1st at-bat as a Yankee in the stadium, was a double down the left-field line. His 5th of the season. A- Rod walked with 2 outs, then with an 0-2 pitch, Giambi delivered his 1st blast of the year. Yankees lead 3-0. 7th game in a row they’ve jumped out in the lead. Was it a sign of great things to come.

To the top of the 2nd and with 1 out, a wild pitch by Wang, moved base runner Doug Mientkiewicz to 2nd, the tag appeared to be made by Cano. This proved costly, as with 2 outs, 3rd baseman, Mark Teahan lined a double to left and Mientkiewicz scored. 3-1..

In the 3rd Damon led off with a walk, Jeter and Sheff both got retired then it got silly. A-rod walked, Giambi walked to load the bases, then amazingly Joe Mays Walked Matsui aswell to bring home Damon. That was it for Mays. He was replaced by Mike Wood Who got Posada on 1 pitch. 4-1… The numbers on Mays were 2.2 innings, gave up 4 runs on 3 hits and 5 walks. Not good pitching at all.

Reggie Sanders replied with a Homer to left, 4-2. Wang got 2 more outs then self destructed. Emil Brown doubled, Moved to 3rd on another wild pitch, Teahan walked, then Angel Berroa hit an RBI single up the middle. Teahan advanced to 3rd. John Buck hammered an RBI single to Sheff, Berroa moved to 3rd. Thankfully for the bombers Shane Costa lined to Damon in straight away center. Wang got out with nothing worse than tied scores.. Improvement is needed sir.

Whats happening in the Bronx now????? Bernie Williams, the most experienced Yankee out there, made a cardinal base-running error. With Cano and Bernie already on, Damon bunted them up. Jeter walked to load em up, and Sheff popped up to SS Berroa, 2 away, But a heads up play by Beria spotting Bernie of the 2nd base bag fired the ball to Grudzielanek who got the forceout. Can it get any worse? Wang threw 7 pitches to retire the Royals in order in the top of the 5th, that’s better!!!!!!!!!!!

In the 6th, after Wang walked Mientkiewicz and Emil Brown got an infield single, Scott Proctor and Ron Villone started to warm up. Mark Teahan laid a beautiful bunt down the left field, he was called safe but clearly Wang got the throw to Cano, covering 1st, in time. Berroa grounded into a double play, Mentkiewicz scored, 4-5. Buck lined to A-rod and that put the inning in the books. Would Wang come back out for the 7th, or was his day done. The Yankees went down in order in the bottom of the 6th.

Indeed that was it for Wang. His figures were 6 innings giving 5 runs on 8 hits, as Tanyon Sturtze made his way to the mound to pitch to the top of the Royals order in the 7th. 1st pitch…..BANG….. Costa, solo home run over the right field fence..4-6.. Grudzielanek bagged a ground rule double to right with still 0 outs, so Yankees still losing their way.. with 1 out Sanders lined one to A-rod, it went off the top of his glove and Grudzielanek scored…4-7… Torre took Sturtze out and called for leftie Mike Myers. 1st pitch, didn’t happen, Myers to Giambi who caught Sanders in a rundown. Myers struck Mientkiewicz out looking, and to the stretch we went. The bats needed to wake up or it would be a losing start in the stadium.

Scott Proctor came in to work the top of the 8th, after Dessens retired the Yanks, with some pretty impressive pitching. Apart from a walk, he retired the side quickly. Andrew Sisco came in to pitch the bottom of the 8th. Jason Giambi led off with his 10th walk of the season. Matsui singled to right, Posada, in a rich vein of form, walked to load the bases bringing Robinson Cano to the plate, still with nobody out. An RBI single followed, Giambi scored, but Posada was forced at 2nd… 5-7… Bernie lined an RBI single to left-center, Cano stopped at 2nd as Matsui scored…6-7… that brought a pitching change. Ambiorix Burgos struck out Damon on 3 pitches. Up came the captain, he boomed a hanging slider deep into the left field stand for a 3 run homer.. WOW!!!!!!!!!! 9-7 Yankees. Mariano Rivera got ready in a hurry as sheff struck out to end a 5 run 8th… You gotta love this game.

Grudzielanek nabbed a 1 out blooper off Mo, on a 1-2 pitch, he hit Sweeney on the hand. Esteban German pinch ran for him as Sweeney left the field in pain. Mo struck Sanders out, and got Mientkiewicz to line out to him. So it’s official.. Thaaaaaaaaaa YANKEES WIN!!!!!!!!!!

Proctor got the win (1-1), Sisco the loss (0-1) and Mo, his 1st save of the season. It was a bit hairy for a while, but they certainly came through in the clutch. A Tuesday afternoon thriller in the Bronx.   

Hip hip Jorge….The Yankee catcher had a red letter day when everything he touched with his bat turned to gold. YES finally thaaaaa Yankees win. Granted it was atrocious pitching by Bartolo Colon that more than steered the Yankees to victory and changed the 1 into a 2 in the win column, but Yankee fans every where will be delighted with the win, or will they?

Lets be critical for a moment. They once again again relied on the long ball. The run manufacturing plays never materialized. 10 men left on base, 7 in scoring positions is simply still not good enough. What if A-rod’s 2nd inning blast fell short and Posada had not produced what regularly does i.e. no offense, we would have been in big do-do. Of course I’m happy we won, but I want a world series win, and they need to exploit every aspect of offensive pressure imaginable if that is going to materialize.

So barking done, what about what did happen!! After Mussina and Colon both worked a 1-2-3 1st innings, the Yankees blew the game wide open. For the 6th game in a row the Yanks took the lead. Alex Rodriguez powered a fastball over left center. It was his 2nd home run of the season coming after his grand slam on opening day against the Athletics and he also joined Cal Ripken on 431 career home runs Jason Giambi singled and Hideki Matsui walked, that brought Posada to the plate. He crushed a slider many a mile into the right field bleachers. 4-0.. Robinson continued the inning with a single to center. Miguel Cairo, playing 1st base to allow Giambi be DH today, sac flied to move Cano up. Johny Damon walked and Derek Jeter bagged an RBI double. Gary Sheffield reached on a fielders choice as Edgardo Alfonzo threw Damon out at the plate. A-Rod, batting second time around, grounded out to end a 5 run inning.

To the 3rd and more runs for the Yankees. Again Giambi and Matsui reached base this time with 2 singles. Jorge Posada, with the bit between his teeth, singled to score Giambi. 6-0. That was the end of a terrible Colon. he pitched 2 innings and 3 batters in the 3rd, Robinson Cano doubled and got 2 RBI’s to push the score to 8-0. That closed the book on Colon. 8 runs on 7 hits, not Cy Young standard at all.

All this time Mike Mussina was going about his business very nicely indeed. Some nice pitches, his eye was in. his sinker and curveball dropping perfectly. He seemed to lose his concentration in the bottom of the 3rd.Mathis singled followed by Kennedy , Mathis moved to 3rd. Chone Figgins, who by and large had been well put asleep in the series, grabbed an RBI single. 8-1. he gave up 1 more walk in the inning but he worked himself out of trouble. he was overly troubled again. Moose posted figures of 6 innings, 1run on 5 hits and 5 strikeouts. He also claimed his 1st win of the season.

The scoring didn’t stop there though for the Yanks.. Posada hit his 2nd homer of the day in the 5th, a solo shot, 9-1.. It was Posadas 177th home run. His blasts propelled him past Yankee legend Bobby Murcer. In the 6th, after A-Rod singled and Giambi walked, Matsui grabbed an RBI single. 10-1. Farnsworth and Proctor were superb in 2 innings work with 3 strikeouts combined. Torre gave Mariano Rivera his long awaited bow in the 9th. With a day off tomorrow, Torre thought he needed a blow out. He gave up 1 hit just inside the 3rd base bag but closed out the game none the less.

Yankee bats were hot today, A-Rod, 3-5, 2 runs + 1 RBI. Matsui, 2-5, 2 runs +1 RBI. Posada, 3-4, 3 runs +5 RBI’s. Cano, 3-5, 1 run + 2 RBI’s. A nice return to winning ways in the last game of the Californian road trip. Chein-Ming Wang gets the nod for the home opener on Tuesday, truly an honor for one so young.

In a busy day at the ball-parks, Pittsburgh finally won their 1st game of the season by overcoming the Reds 5-3. On the flip side, both Detroit and Milwaukee lost their first games of the year. The Tigers going down 5-3 to the Rangers, while the Brewers fell to the Royals 7-0. Boston joined both of them at 5 and 1 overcoming the Orioles 4-1. At Shea stadium, the Mets won again in a thriller. Behind 2-0 they tied it up in the 7th and in the 9th David Wrights sac fly scored Beltran to win it. In another thriller, San Francisco who were 4-1 up in the 2nd went behind 5-4 in the 7th to the Braves. Then in the Bottom of the 9th Randy Winn singled in Pedro Feliz to win it 6-5 after Lance Niekro had homered earlier in the inning to tie it up. The Dodgers and the Phillies had a long day. The Dodgers blew a 3-0 lead in game 1 to go down 6-3, but shared the spoils in game 2, winning 6-2. Tommy Lasorda will be a happy man tonight. Finally, Cory Sullivan of The Rockies, tied a Major League record held by Gil Cohen since Aug 21st 1951 for the Washington Senators, by tripling twice in the same inning. It was another 7 run inning in back to back days for the Rockies, who went on to beat the Padres 10-4.

He scarsely deserved to lose, but lose he did. Another wonderful pitching performance by Randy Johnson went unrewarded due to the fact the offense is in reverse. The ‘big unit’ pitched a complete game. 8 innings, conceding 3 runs on 7 hits and again no walks, while striking out 8. It was almost Clemens like in the way a couple of mistakes went punished by a very accomplished los Angeles team. Last season the ‘rocket’ lost more 1 run games than any other pitcher and that is what it was like last night. Randy can’t do it all on his own. He needs this ’1000 run offense’ to fire, and quickly.

The Yankees proceeded to leave 9 more on base and 4 of them in scoring position. Crucially, the only runs scored were the 2 solo home run shots by Jeter in the 1st and Matsui in the 9th. NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It certainly looks like were going back to relying on the long ball again, after setting up lots of runs in pre-season with bunts, steals and hit + runs. It was effective and Joe Torre seems to be shying away from it now. WHY NOW JOE?????????????

Ervin Santana was excellent yet again. Last time yours truly saw him, was against the Yanks in the ALDS last year and he was equally as dominant then. last night he threw 5.2 innings with 1 run on 2 hits but 3 walks. Thankfully for him he worked out of trouble when the bombers seemed to ready to take him. The Angels certainly have a quality player to rely on along with main man Bartolo Colon and Kelvim Escobar. Colon goes this afternoon trying to wrap up a 3 game sweep, thus sending the Yankees to a 1-5 starting record.

For the Angels, Vladimir Guerrero hit, 2-3, 1 RBI. Robb Quinlan, 2-3, 1 RBI also and Adam Kennedy, 1-3, 2 RBI’s. All the Yankees had was 2-4 by Gary Sheffield along side the 2 homers… The bats will have to improve drastically. People are talking about coincidences, I don’t buy into that rubbish. Just because they went 1-5 in 1998, went on to win 114 regular season games, and the world series, doesn’t mean it will happen again. I hope it does, but it will be very hard..

Around the league:  The White Sox lose again 4-3 to Kansas city. Sox now 1-4. Both Milwaukee  and Detroit remain unbeaten (5-0). The brewers came from 4-2 behind to beat the Diamondbacks 5-4 and the Tigers destroyed the Rangers 7-0. In the early game, The St. Louis Cardinals blew a 2 run lead to go down 3-2 to the Cubs. Colorado Rockies scored 7 runs in the 1st en-route to a convincing 12-4 victory over San Diego. Washington went 5-0 down in the 1st against the Astros but rallied to win 12-8. Finally, the Marlins v Mets and the Dodgers v Phillies were both rained out. The Dodgers /Phillies game will be made up today..

There was a song many years ago called California dreaming. Last night, both teams were doing a lot of dreaming. The Angels of going all the way this year, and on last nights performance, they’ve carried from where they left off last season, and the sad Yankees dreaming of another win. Opening day seemed to hold a vision of a red letter season for them. Some experts were even going as far as to say it was the finest assembly of players the Yankees have had in an extremely long time, and that is a bold statement. 1,000 runs this season, they cried, MVP, Cy Young awards were destined for the house the Ruth built. On the 1st weeks performance, the wooden spoon would be more apt. There is still 158 games left I know but something is not quite right. I can’t put my finger on it yet, but surely you can’t dominate the 1st game 15-2 and fall asunder in the next 3. Weather conditions in Oakland didn’t help but it was the same for both teams. Are they trying to do too much too soon?

Last night Kelvim Escobar pitched fantastically. his control and domination of the Bombers bats was tremendous. He pitched 6 fantastic, solid innings conceding 1 run on 6 hits and only awarding one free pass. During the evening he also recorded his 1000th career strikeout. All this achieved with a split nail on his middle finger… Ouch.. His bull pen was equally as tight throwing a combined 3innings for only 3 walks. impressive stuff indeed.

On the opposite side, his counterpart Shaun Chacon was simply not at the races. He lasted 4.2 innings giving up 4 runs on 8 hits with 2 walks, although 1 was intentional, and a 2 run homer in the 1st to Cabrera. At least the pen was a bit more effective. Villone, Sturtze and Myers worked a 1 walk combined, 3.1 innings.

Batting wise for the Angels, Guerrero, Molina and Kennedy went hit-less. Chone Figgins was the star with figures of 2-3, a walk, and a run scored on the 2 run blast by Cabrera. The Yanks only had 6 hits with Jeter snagging 2 of them and a walk. Johny Damon had the one and only RBI with a double to right-center, scoring Bernie Williams from 1st. 2 more west coast games for the Yankees before the New York home opener on Tuesday afternoon against Kansas. 2 wins would be nice… ****, It’s a necessity.. Tonight It’s Randy Johnson against Ervin Santana on the mound..

Elsewhere. The Atlanta Braves trailed 6-4 in the 7th against the Giants in AT&T park when they suddenly exploded for 8 runs. they went on to win 14-6. The ageless Greg Maddux won for the Cubs in a 5-1 win over St. Louis. The Mets won again, a lot of peoples dark horses this year, 9-3 over the Marlins, thanks largely to homers by David Wright and Jose Reyes. The champs continued to keep losing their way by blowing a 6 run lead. The White Sox eventually going down by a score of 11-7 to the Royals.

Dear, oh dear, oh dear. Disastrous……..The 8th inning saw the Yankees give up 5 runs as the A’s batted around. Milton Bradley led with a triple off Jarret Wright who had looked comfortable in his 2 previous innings, He gave up 2 runs on 3 hits with no outs and picked up the loss. Robinson Cano then committed an error at 2nd and Bradley scored. Kendall singled to right and last nights hero Marco Scutero batted him in. Mike Myers, who came in and got the 1st out, was replaced by Kyle Farnsworth. He had inherited runners, took the 2nd out, then loaded the bases.  Up to the plate came the Big Hurt Frank Thomas. He bounced a high fastball off the top of the leftfield wall to clear the bases with a double. Torre brought Ron Villone in and he wrapped up a magnificent inning for the A’s.

It had all started so brightly with home runs by Matsui and a 3 run blast by Gary Sheffield. It was a milestone for Sheff who reached 28th on the all-time home run list it was his 450th. Chien-Ming Wang was pitching well until it all fell apart in the 4th. He gave up 3 runs and really was lucky the damage was not more. But in the 5th it did get worse. He conceded another run then proceeded to load the bases. Tanyon Sturtze retired the side and the Yankees were still in the ball game.

The A’s shut down the bombers offense from then on. Impressive pitching by Dan Haren, a fellow blogger, kept them in check. 6 innings work, conceding 4 runs on 7 hits and never looked in further danger after the early blasts. Justin Duchscherer and Joe Kennedy, who received the win, were impressive in their work. The A’s thoroughly deserved the win.

So where do the Yanks go from here? It’s a bit early to be pressing the panic button, but after demolishing the A’s 15-2 in the first game, then blowing leads in the next two, Torre will have to pick them up by the bootstraps for the trip to Anaheim, the site of the Yankees exit last season. After all it’s only April!!!!!!!

Other news around the Majors. Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 537th home run, to move into 12th all-time, ahead of Mickey Mantle,  in an 8-6 Reds victory over the Cubs in the early game today. The Indians beat the White Sox again, 4-3, in 11 innings. Jason Michaels hitting the game winning RBI. He hit 4-5 today. Meanwhile Pudge Rodriguez went one better going 5-5 in the 14-3 Tigers demolition of K.C. The Mets lost a heartbreaker in Shea to the Nationals. Washington scored in the 9th to move to extra innings where they hammered 5 more to take it 9-5… Finally Rollins streak is still alive at 38, as the Phillies went down 4-3 to the Red Birds.

Thaaaaa Yankees LOSE? Oops not meant to happen. Pasting the A’s for 15 the night before, the cannons spluttered in the Coliseum in a rainy heartbreaker for bomber fans. Moose did his best, 6 strikeouts in 7 innings of work giving up 3runs on 5 hits is not a bad nights work. but the two solo home run shots conceded to Swisher in the 3rd and Chavez in the 6Th kept the A’s in touch all the time. Just as it seemed Rich Harden was going to get touched big, he produced some great pitches to retire the side. The Yankees didn’t help their own cause leaving 10 men on base 8!!!! in scoring position, A-Rod guilty on 3 occasions. His base running left a lot to be desired when getting caught in a run down to retire the side with Sheff on 3rd. Granted his bat was working well with a 2-5 night and a run scored. Johnny Damon already is looking like a Yankee. His 2-4 with a walk and a double were signs that he is settling in nicely. Jorge Posada, the only player not to get a hit on Monday, had a more profitable night hitting 1-4 and more importantly 2 RBI’s.

Undoubtedly the player of the game was Oaklands 2nd baseman Marco Scutero, it was his walk off hit over Hideki Matsui that scored the winning run. Before his 9th inning heroics he had hit very well indeed. He finished up with numbers of 2-3, with a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Scott Proctor, who has some personal problems at the moment, was the unlucky pitcher in the 9th who took the loss. It was his walk issued to Milton Bradley, who ironically was pursued by Brian Cashman in the off season, that caused the damage. He was batted in by Scuttero.

So when the dust settles, its a digit in the loss column. Not as bad a night as some may make out. Rich Harden pitched very well in the clutch and we didn’t take our chances. So to game 3 and the chance to wrap up the series before we move to Anaheim. Chien-Ming Wang is scheduled to pitch.

In other news, Jim Thome hit his 2nd home run of the season in vain for the  Champs, Whilst Aaron Boone went 4-5 with 4 Rbi’s and a home run in a 8-2 winning performance for the Indians over the same White Sox. We also had our 1st rain out. Petco Park, San Diego was washed out as the Giants were in town again. The game will be made up on July 1st. The Florida Marlins handed Joe Girardi his first managerial win in spectacular style belting 4 home runs in a 11-2 win.

YANKEES 0 7 0 4 2 0 0 2 0    15 17 1

A’s              0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1     2  8  1

With impressive 2005 records, 17-8 Randy Johnson, took on 14-13 Barry Zito in a battle of the Lefties in McAfee Coliseum to open the new season. 56 degrees and overcast threatening clouds greeted both teams. The Yankee lineup was: Damon, Jeter, Sheffield, A-Rod, Giambi, Matsui, Posada, Williams and Cano. The A’s fielded: Ellis, Kotsay, Crosby, Chavez, Thomas, Bradley, Payton, Kendall, and Swisher.

Thunder and lightning and all the power from the heavens were predicted for the Oakland Area, and it arrived,…..From the bat of Alex Rodriguez. A grand slam home run in the second inning pushed the score to 7-0 after an atrocious pitching performance by Zito had allowed 2 walks to Matsui and Posada respectively, followed by an RBI single by Bernie Williams. Cano loaded the bases with a successful bunt. Consecutive RBI singles by Damon and Jeter preceded A-rods gigantic blast. Slotted in between was a strike out by Gary Sheffield. That was enough for Barry Zito who only lasted 1.1inn, and gave up 7 runs on 4 hits. Kirk Saarloos replaced him on the mound. Giambi struck out, Matsui, second time up singled, Posada was pinged by an inside curveball and the Yankees threatened once again. Unfortunately for the pinstripes Bernie flied to center to end a wild wild inning. Not to be out done, Frank Thomas, the former White Sox DH, in his first at-bat as an Athletic slammed a solo HR off Randy Johnson to pull the score back to 7-1. What would the next 7 innings hold for us?

Well, we didn’t have to wait very long for more fireworks. Gary Sheffield reached on an error by shortstop Bobby Crosby, A-rod singled moving Sheff to 3rd. Giambi belted an RBI single up the middle and Hideki Matsui got in on the long ball party by knocking a 3 run homer over the right field fence to send the score to a wild 11-1. Finally the A’s got their fielding into gear with two fine outfield plays by Kotsay and Bradley, Cano doubled but Damon flied out to end the inning, and there is only 4 in the book.

The 5th was just as wild in many ways. Following a 1 out double by Sheffield, Saarloos was replaced by former Yankee minor leaguer Brad Halsey. He had an inauspicious start by hitting Giambi. Matsui got his 3rd hit with a 2 out RBI single. Halsey then hit Posada to load the bases and it threatened to get a bit bad-tempered. Bernie was walked and that forced in a run. Robinson Cano almost beat out an infield single but he was just shy. So it remained 13-1 Yankees. All the while, Randy Johnson was working smoothly and effectively, only giving up 1 run on 5 hits in 5 innings.

The 8th inning saw the next scoring, Johnny Damon hit a 1 out double, Jeter knocked him in with an RBI single, Bubba Crosby walked and A-Rod snapped up his 5th RBI of the night to make it 15-1. Matsui going for for his 5th hit walked for the 2nd time bringing Posada, the only Yankee not to get a hit, though he’d been hit twice by the A’s pitching staff, to the plate. Alas he remained hitless leaving the bases loaded.

Randy Johnson’s night came to an end after 7 great innings giving up 1 run on 5 hits, with 3 strikeouts and more importantly no walks. Tanyon Sturtze replaced him. Ron Villone pitched the 9th, he conceded 1 run but that was all, and closed things out for an utterly impressive, record setting game. A fantastic start to the 2006 season for Joe Torres men. Lets hope it’s the shape of things to come.

In other news today, Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies, extended his hitting streak to 37, 19 shy off Joe DiMaggios record of 56. Roger Clemens attended the Rangers home opener against the Red Sox, again fueling speculation that the maestro could be on his way back to Fenway Park. He spent some time talking to connections during the game. Jim Leyland won his first game in charge of the Tigers today with a 3-1 win over the Royals, In a footnote, former Yankee catcher and bench coach, Joe Girardi, lost his first game leading the Marlins, 1-0 to the Astros. Controversial star Barry Bonds was held to only 1 double against the Padres. Jake Peavy turned in an impressive performance giving up 1 run on 4 hits in 7 innings. Along with Johnson, a candidate for Pitching performance of the day.