Just in case you were still marginally excited about Opening Day, I've got a whole lot of links to temper your mood and yearn for the cold snowy days of football.
Meet the Mets
That is right, Mike Jacobs and Gary Matthews Jr. are starting this afternoon with Jacobs hitting cleanup and GMJ hitting sixth. Joe Janish pretty much nails it.
BlueandOrange tells us what we have to look forward to this year.
Even though the Mets spurned him on the MLB roster, Kiko Calero will report to Buffalo.
Some good news for Francisco Rodriguez: his brother is in stable condition and the Met closer will be uniform today.
Staying on the bullpen for one more link: Jenrry Mejia gets the chance to live out some irony.
Fresh off his Apprentice experience, Darryl is throwing out the first pitch this afternoon.
The Met Museum has opened and the reviews are good.
Ike Davis caps Toby Hyde's top Met prospect list.
Just in case you needed a reminder, the Mets haven't had a no-hitter yet.
"But Howard Johnson and Jerry Manuel assured me they believed in me and unlike the Braves, they worked on keeping me aggressive with better pitch recognition at the plate, whereas in Atlanta they were merely concerned about my low walk totals." There is nothing else to say.
It's Mets for Me yawns.
Fire Jerry Manuel seems to be softening his stance on our manager.
And finally, I can't wait for Ted Berg's Carlos Beltran blog.
Around MLB
Davey Lopes will miss the Phillies' first six games after his brother passed away in a fire. I can only speak for myself, but my thoughts and prayers go out to the Lopes family.
Eugene Heyward prohibited his son Jason from playing football. That worked out well.
Adam Dunn wants to lock up an extension with the Nationals and avoid being the subject of trade rumors. Washington is also looking for a new right fielder.
Oh goody, Curt Schilling is going to be on ESPN. Fortunately, I don't have cable. The move is clearly an attempt for ESPN to make up for missing out on Royals-Mariners opening night.
Bill Simmons has made his Applesauce debut after being converted to sabermetrics.
Ed Montague, Randy Marsh, Rick Reed, and Charlie Reliford have announced their retirement from MLB umpiring.
Game theory (no, that's not the name of a new blog) helps explain why Tim Wakefield's 72 mph fastball is such a good pitch.
Jason Epstein of the National Review provides an extensive and insightful recap of the offseason that was.