Baseball

While the season officially kicked off Sunday night, Monday is the first day for the majority of Major League Baseball.  Here are five questions to be watching:

1. How will the pitchers returning from injuries fair in their 2010 debut?

2009 ended with a loss. And this season? (Cubbie Nation/file)

I really wasn’t going to do this.

Here's to green grass cut ever so perfectly.

Here's to the beer vendor who picks the perfect time to walk by and knows you personally by the end of the season, along with the hot dog vendor who knows to come back after your first purchase.

Here's to the obnoxious fan who screams what everyone is thinking, and the outfielder who turns around to laugh at him. 

Here's to having a civilized conversation with a rival fan only to punch them innings later.

Sunday night's game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees marked the beginning of the 2010 MLB regular season.

Despite the return of Red Sox legend Pedro Martinez to throw out the first pitch, the season's inaugural game was anything but a pitchers' duel.

It didn't take long for Boston's Josh Beckett to run into trouble against the stacked Bronx Bomber lineup.

Through five innings, CC Sabathia appeared on his way to an Opening Night victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

But the Yankees' ace quickly ran into trouble in the sixth, issuing a walk to Dustin Pedroia before Victor Martinez doubled and Kevin Youkilis brought them both home with a triple to cut Boston's deficit to 5-4.

After the Sox tied the game at 5, New York once again jumped ahead at 7-5, only to see the lead disappear another time thanks to poor middle relief by newly acquired Chan Ho Park and always erratic Damaso Marte.

Opening night, Boston Red Sox vs the New York Yankees on a beautiful 67-degree night at Fenway Park. It was a perfect setting. Red Sox ace Josh Beckett was warming up, as was Yankees ace CC Sabathia, who looked a little more portly than usual. Players laughed in the dugout, new faces donned new uniforms, and the crowd buzzed energetically. Baseball was set to begin.

And, expecting nothing less, it was a classic nail-biter between hated rivals.

Although 2010’s official Opening Day isn’t until tomorrow, the Yankees/Red Sox Sunday night matchup marks the beginning of another baseball season.

For those of us who devote our entire summer to fantasy baseball, tonight signals the start of a six-month journey that requires a daily grind; constantly setting lineups, adding free agents and proposing trades, not to mention watching the games.

Six seasons ago, fans welcoming baseball back to Washington gave standing ovations to the bat boys. What the Washington Nationals did on the field didn’t matter back in 2005.

That a team roamed the vast expanse of RFK Stadium again was all that mattered.

Wins? Eh—they’d be nice but….

The baseball season begins tonight with arguably the best rivalry in sports.  With the Red Sox and Yankees both making major changes to their team over the offseason, it's time to take a long at what differences the fans will look at this season.  With that in mind, here is a look into who made the right moves and who made the wrong moves.

Boston Red Sox

Opening Day optimism, there is nothing like it in sports.  Cubs fans have thrived on it for over 100 years.

This is, by far, my favorite time of the year on the sports calendar.  The snow has melted, the grass is turning green, and I can start to hear the crack of the bat and roar of the crowd.