Baseball

Technology is a good thing, right?

Can it become overdone? I mean, do we know when to say "enough"?

Case in point: Fox Sports pitch tracker "FoxTrax". It shows the overall speed of the pitch, the speed at a certain distance from the plate, measurement of descent, measurement of break, and the temperature of the ball (just kidding about the last one, but why not?)

That is more pitch delivery 411 than I am allowed to process in this limited gray matter inside my skull. You may be different, maybe that isn't even enough information for you.

After getting two hits in the season opener on Sunday night, Brett Gardner did not start in Boston last night.

Not only had Gardner gotten the two hits, he also made two very good baserunning plays, going from first to third on a Derek Jeter single that did not get very far into left-center field and stealing home easily when Jeter broke for second.

But for reasons that can be found only in the dark recesses of Joe Girardi's mind, Gardner did not start the second game of the season.

Sunday night’s loss was a tough one for the Yankees and the bullpen, but they turned it around last night as they beat the Red Sox 6-4 to improve their record to 1-1.

Here are some notes:

Regardless on how bad the previous season ended, there is always a glimmer of hope on Opening Day that those doom and gloom days are behind you.

For more than 80 years there was a common phrase in Boston, "This Year is the Year", and for the most part all fans believe that for their favorite teams.

One thing that keeps this hope alive is the roar of the home crowd, or the booing of a bad call.  These things unite strangers who share three to four hours together at the ball park.

The Orioles entered 2010 with a litany of questions facing their pitching staff.

After a forgettable 2009, where the Orioles finished in the bottom rung of nearly every major statistical category, the Orioles have placed their faith in a group of promising yet unproven youngsters, a reliable veteran ace, and a closer freshly adorned with a two-year, $17 million contract.

The 2010 baseball season is upon us and that means it's prediction time.

The consensus on the Cincinnati Reds is sleeper status. They have the potential to make a run with their abundance of young talent. On the other hand, a injury here or there and the Reds will be lucky to break the horrid streak of nine straight years finishing below .500.

The problem is there are too many questions.

What if Aroldis Chapman and his 100 mph fastball are called up in June and he takes the National League by storm?

The Yankees needed this win in order to stay with the pack in the AL East. This game was very important.

Of course there are 160 games left and we don't know what the impact of some of those games will be on the playoff picture. But game two in Fenway was where the Yankees had to address some of their weaknesses from game one. 

When the series began between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, they had listed three premier pitching matchups for the fans at Fenway Park to see.

So far, the first two games have come down to a battle of the bullpens instead of the starters.

On opening night, the two starters for both teams didn't have great outings. Josh Beckett didn't even get out of the fifth inning, allowing eight hits, five runs, three walks and two home runs and a 9.64 ERA in four and two-thirds innings.

I know it's only two games into the season, and just like Red Sox DH David Ortiz said during his tirade last night: "There's a 160 games left, relax." But, I'm still very impressed with what I have seen from Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, thus far.

Cano has wasted no time in reassuring the Yankees that they made the correct decision placing him behind Alex Rodriguez in the lineup.

Through his first eight at-bats, Cano has picked up four hits. Two of them for extra bases including the ninth-inning, solo-shot blast during last night's 6-4 victory over Boston.

On Monday I had the opportunity to attend Cincinnati Reds Opening Day. For anybody who has lived in Cincinnati, it is widely known that Opening Day is a Cincinnati holiday. It is also a day nobody does quite like Cincinnati. 

Cincinnati is home to the first professional baseball team some 150 years ago and in the Queen City, baseball has and always will be king. 

Every Opening Day in Cincinnati over the last 91 years has began with the Findlay Market Parade. The parade marches through the streets of downtown and is the highlight of the big day.