This Was a Pretty Damn Good Opening Day

Despite all my bellyaching over Opening Day losing some of its sacredness by being split across two days, today was a pretty damn good start to the season. I mean, sure, there were only six games, but they were six games of extremely high quality.

First up, the Braves won 2-0 thanks to Brian McCann single and Jason Heyward’s second consecutive Opening Day home run. The Nationals were even in the game until the very end. Even though Livan Hernandez took the loss, he actually pitched one hell of a gam, which begs the question: was 2010 not a fluke season for a pitcher who can’t get the ball over 85 mph?

Then Curtis Granderson went absolutely nutty, catching everything that came within the realm of center field and also hitting his first home run of the season in the Yankees victory over the Tigers. Baseball bats were not immune to the effects of the cold with 18 strikeouts being handed out. Austin Jackson did little quell doubts, striking out three times to put him on pace for 486. Take that, Mark Reynolds.

The Reds won their opener against Milwaukee with a walk-off home run not by Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, or even Jonny Gomes, but rather by Ramon Hernandez. It was Hernandez’s 21st 9th inning home run and 9th when losing by two runs (B-Ref). Meaningless? Maybe. Fun? Absolutely.

The Angels beat the Royals 4-2 in a game that will drive most baseball analysts crazy. Five home runs were hit when all was said and done, with Jeff Francoeur and Jeff Mathis, two of the worst offensive players in the game, accounting for two of them. Not only that, but Melky Cabrera went 3-4 in his Royals debut and Mark Trumbo went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts for the Angels. It’s like everything you knew about baseball was untrue for a day.

The Cardinals and Padres game went 11 innings before the Padres eventually won 5-3. Albert Pujols grounded into three double plays on his way to an 0-5 showing, something he had never done before. Cameron “Panda Express” Maybin tied the game in the top of the ninth with a home run and even hit the single that Theriot bobbled to let the winning run score, giving hope to Padres fans that this would finally be his breakout season.

Finally, the evening ended with the Tim Lincecum and Clayton Kershaw trading zeroes for five and half innings, despite Lincecum and the Giants defense not looking all that sharp. Eventually the Dodgers won 2-1, perhaps as karmic retribution for the Giants’ fans grandstanding:

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

The best part of it all? There are eleven more games to be played tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after that. All the way until the end of September.