Yankees Opening Day

April 1, 2008

By DailySkew

GAME 1 Blue Jays @ Yankees April 1, 2008

http://www.stevenellis.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/06/19/mariano.jpg

At the end of LAST April (the worst April in Yankees history), Yankees Stadium actually fans booed Icon Mariano Rivera when he was unable to record an out in a save situation, which eventually became a blowout game. Joe Torre came out and removed him, which broke both of their hearts. Many critics and fans alike said “Mo was done”. But I knew that the reason River was struggling was because he was unable to get steady work at the beginning of the year, which was throwing off his mechanics.

Fast forward to Opening Day 2008. After a very successful post-April 2007, including a great series in the post-season, Mariano Rivera had a 1-2-3 9th inning to preserve Chien-Ming Wang’s victory today, to start off the last season at this ballpark. Rivera gave the game ball to new manager Joe Girardi, who was holding back tears and said it was an honor.

Wang vs Roy Halladay was a great pitcher’s duel, and I truthfully thought Halladay was going to win. What a great job by #9 hitter Melky Cabrera!

Joba had some jitters, but after he stuck out future Hall of Famer Frank Thomas on 3 pitches to end the 8th, he got all of his confidence back.

Some quick observations:

Giambi is trying hard at first; Cano looks like a superstar; A-Rod looks shaky fielding, but fine at the plate; Damon didn’t look too enthusiastic; Abreu looked focused; Melky’s glove is unbelievable; Jorge seemed very angry that he had 3 stolen bases off him.

By the way, Wang did NOT have his best stuff today, but still only gave up 2 runs (on cheap ground outs) on 5 hits in 7 innings. Wang relies on his defense so much, which is why Internet message board geeks think he is a fluke, but whatever he does, he does it right! Wang is truly a great talent.