WHAT A DAY!

I love Opening Day...even if it falls on the in-between day for the Mets, when they don't have a game. I love watching all of the different games....even if I am at school for most of them, and don't get to watch the afternoon games. I love looking at the scoreboard pages of the website, and seeing full boxscores of games that count.

One day does not a season make, but these were things that stood out to me on Opening Day:

-The Royals beat the Red Sox - pretty convincingly. A lot of people in the national media are pretty down on the Sox. And I've mentioned I think the Royals will surprise some people...maybe they're even better than I thought?

-Brad Lidge - slowly but surely, he's becoming less effective. He just blew a save for the Astros against the Pirates by giving up a homer to Xavier Nady with 2 out in the ninth.

-Dominant Pitching Performances - The headliner here is Felix Hernandez of Seattle - 8 innings of 3-hit, 12-strikeout ball. Ben Sheets went 9 innings for the Brewers, giving up just 2 hits and one run. And Gil Meche of the aforementioned Royals went 6-and-a-third, giving up just one run on six hits, and striking out 6.

-The Yankees Lineup - Sure, you can say they were just playing the Devil Rays, but they can hit. They took a lead, then fell behind, and then outscored Tampa the rest of the way. Scott Kazmir, incidentally, was touched up for 5 runs in 5 innings.

I'm just sitting here trying to think of other notables, and I'm realizing that I don't think anyone in baseball is opening a new stadium this year. That's worth noting these days.

RUBBING IT IN?: Tuesday night before the Mets-Cardinals game, the Cardinals will hand out their championship rings. This, in front of the Mets, who had to sit through the banner-raising ceremony Sunday night. The Cardinals say it's not to rub it in - they just didn't want to overload Sunday night with ceremonies. I don't care, to be honest. I'd rather the Cardinals tick the Mets off, show them what they could have had...give them more fire in their bellies for this year. Orlando Hernandez pitches for the Mets against Kip Wells on Tuesday.

ESPN PICKS: Forgot to mention this on Sunday night, but I caught the end of 'Baseball Tonight' before the Mets-Cardinals game, and the crew made their picks. Peter Gammons picked the Mets over the Red Sox in 7 games in the World Series (with Pedro* going against the Sox), Tim Kurkjian took the Yankees over the Mets, and Karl Ravech took the Red Sox over the Mets. Just FYI.

A THOUGHT ON THE NUMBER 2 SPOT: So Paul Lo Duca showed that he's fine hitting second. I had mentioned that I'd love to see David Wright hitting there, to get some more at-bats in games. The difference between Lo Duca and Wright, though, is that Wright strikes out a lot. Lo Duca does not, so he's probably better suited for the 2 spot for now because he puts the ball in play, giving him a chance to move Jose Reyes around the bases, if not drive him in.

MEDIA GUIDE: I think I mentioned that my dad got a mini ticket plan, where he gets the home Tuesday and Friday games. Along with the purchase of those tickets, the Mets sent him a media guide...which was forwarded to me today. Fantastic. I'll never want for stats again (until 2008, I guess). I'll put it to good use.

BEAT THE STREAK: Chase Utley gave me a 2-gamer on this early season. I will go with Mike Piazza of the Oakland A's against Jarrod Washburn on Tuesday.