MLB

By now if you're reading this, it's likely that you know how the Twins lost, what went wrong, what could have went better, and everything in between. It was game one, and there are still 161 remaining.

With the heavily anticipated day now over, it's time to just focus on baseball and they'll start that tonight with Nick Blackburn against Erik Bedard.

And so it begins.

Already, Kansas City Royals fans have been dealt an early season blow by one of the players acquired in the offseason that was meant to bring depth to the Royals' bullpen.

It was one of the bright spots last year, often even cleaning up messes left by starters.

Gil Meche, the $55-million man pitched seven great innings. He struck out six, gave up seven hits, and walked zero.

The Colorado Rockies are looking to rebound from their Opening Day loss in Arizona.

John McGraw, the great New York Giants manager, and George Stallings, who managed the 1914 World Champion miracle Boston Braves, were two of the first managers to employ the "platoon" system.

The premise was that it was easier for a left-handed batter to hit a right-handed pitcher's breaking pitches, and for a right-handed batter to hit a left-hander's breaking pitches. The platoon system was utilized most successfully by Casey Stengel, who learned it from John McGraw when he played for the Giants in 1922 and 1923.

I have to say, I love MLB Extra Innings. I may not get anything else done this spring/summer, but it is fun to get Cardinals baseball!

Of course, the big story of the day was Jason Motte's "implosion" in the ninth to blow the save and cost the Cardinals the game, 6-4. I'm not going to get into the melee on this one. He was too pumped up coming into the game, had a long inning in the bottom of the eighth where he was not sure whether to be throwing or not, and was just a bunch of nerves.

Major League Baseball instituted a new rule allowing the umpires to watch instant replays of controversial home run calls last season. I’m wondering if that rule has carried over into 2009.

Last season, Alex Rodriguez hit a home run that looked like it was easily fair at the time, but the umpires took an extra five minutes to check it out.