Opening Day Running Blog

Well well well. Look who is back. It's Baseball and all of its glory. Tonight I will be watching the opening day game between the defending World Series Champs Phillies and the visiting Atlanta Braves. I've decided to give you guys a running diary of the game, so sit back and enjoy.

7:05 - I'm watching the game down in my roommates room on his 42 inch Plasma (thank you Sam). He is enjoying some nerds jelly beans. Yeah I've never seen them before either.

7:06 - For my Steak for the Cash selection I selected J-Roll and Chase Utley to have more total bases then Chipper and Brian McCann. Pretty confident about this one. Damn Sidney Crosby snapped my streak because he cant beat the Florida Panthers. What a waste.

7:10 - Kelly Johnson flies out to center for the first out of the 2009 season. Kelly Johnson is now batting .000, not the start he wanted this year

7:12 - Chipper gets the first official hit of the season with a slap to left, and my steak is not looking good either right now.

7:14 - McCann just crushed an offspeed pitch into the 2nd deck, 2 - 0 ATL. Streak chances not so hot.

7:26 - Jeff Francoeur takes the first pitch of the 2nd inning and places it nicely over the left field wall. Brett Myers is leaving a lot of pitches over the middle of the plate, he must have forgotten that this game counts. 3 - 0 ATL

7:28 - Stepping up to the plate and making his major league debut is Braves centerfielder Jordan Schafer. Jon Miller just informed me that this time last year Schafter was suspended last year for using a banned substance. Somewhere A-Rod smiles, there is still hope.

7:29 - Another homerun. Congrats to Jordan Schafter for hitting a homerun in his major league debut at-bat. Nice piece of hitting, sending the ball over the left center wall, 4 - 0 ATL. Check him for roids.

7:41 - Myers is really struggling and is already hearing the boo birds from the Philly fans. Yunel Escobar just crushed a double off the left center wall where Schafer hit his home run. The bullpen is already active and it is only the top of the 3rd inning.

7:44 - Hopefully something will happen for the Phillies. This game has been dominated by the Braves so far and it's not looking good for them so far tonight.

7:51 - Carlos Ruiz gets the first hit for the Phillies with a double that bounces over 3rd base. Now J-Roll is up with 2 outs. C'mon hit a bomb...

7:53 - Well it would have been a home run in a Silo. Phillies out in the 3rd with the score still 4 - 0 ATL.

8:01 - Schafter is the best player ever in the major leagues. His major league career average is 1.000, not to shabby.

8:08 - D-Lowe's sinker is on tonight. Through 4 innings, the Phillies only have the 1 hit and most of the outs are easy ground balls in the infield. This could turn out to be a great signing for the Braves.

8:13 - Chipper doubles. Streak is now at a 2 game losing streak. What an addicting game. I would like to meet the person that thought of it and shake their hand. Thank you streak creator, thank you.

8:20 - Sam and I are watching Family Guy because it is more entertaining then watching the Phillies hit ground balls. Everyone knows but it is a great show. One of the best on TV.

8:27 - Jordan Schafter is up again and they are so afraid of him that the Phillies are intentionally walking him...but D-Lowe is up next. That's why the NL is stupid. Pitchers shouldn't hit. What is the point? But that is for another post. NL Preview perhaps?

8:29 - Lowe pulls the drag bunt out of his bag of tricks but the ball trickles foul. Joe Morgan says "Derek Lowe is a very smart player, I've seen him do this before." What haven't you seen Joe?

8:37 - Jimmy Rollins just said that if you don't do it Charlie Manuel's way it will be the highway...shouldn't that be how all teams are run? The last time I checked it was the manager that manages games.

8:38 - Yay the first base from my tandem of J-Roll and Utley as Jimmy gets a base hit up the middle. Now all we need is 6 more total bases and we are in business.

8:40 - Just realized that the woman's final four is on right now. I wonder what kind of ratings they get. My guess is this baseball game is higher rated then the final four. Just a hunch.

8:44 - We have a new pitcher to start off the top of the 7th for the Phils and it is....Jack Taschner. Yeah, big time realiever. He's from Wisconsin, so that means he likes cheesecurds and football.

8:48 - This is a gem that was just said, "when you get older, you become a better hitter because you learn more about yourself" - Joe Morgan. Really Joe? I thought you knew everything right when you came out of the womb.

9:11 - The last 2 innings for Derek Lowe, 14 pitches...combined. This guy is rolling right now. He is just 3 outs away from a complete game 2 hit shutout on opening day vs the defending champs. Not a bad way to start the season.

9:16 - Schafer just got tooled by Brad Lidge. So much for batting 1.000 for the season. Welcome to the Big Leagues my friend.

9:17 - Greg Norton is batting for D-Lowe. I guess we will not be seeing him try for the complete game shut out. It makes sense though with it being Opening Day and all. But the way the Lowe was pitching he could have gotten through the inning with less then 10 pitches.

9:21 - Eric Bruntlett pinch hits and picks up a double off of Mike Gonzalez. First time all night that they have had a leadoff hitter on base. Rally? Maybe?

9:24 - Jason Werth lines a single past Chipper for the first RBI/Run for the Phillies. I'm smelling a comeback here. Utley is up followed by big bopper Ryan Howard. Still only 1 out in the inning.

9:26 - Utley walks. It is about time that this game got semi interesting. Gonzalez wasn't even close to the strike zone in that at bat. Ryan Howard steps up to the plate....

9:29 - ...and takes a 93 mph heater down the middle for strike 3. It was the first fastball he had seen in the at bat and he was not looking for it at all. Not a good pressure at bat.

9:31 - Gonzalez strikes out Raul Ibanez for the final out of the game with runners at 1st and 2nd. After walking Utley, Gonzalez really buckled down and came to play for the final 2 hitters. Good game. Glad baseball is back.

Well there you have it folks, game one of 2,400 in the Major League Baseball season. The game that really matters is tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited. Go Twins, Go Baseball....