2011 opening baseball weekend tidbits

A Quote

Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta on his successful opening weekend:

"I am in a good spot. I am comfortable with my (shorter) swing. Plus, training in Scottsdale I played a lot more so I felt great coming into the season. It's been good so far, but I am not thinking about it. I just need to focus on coming with it every single day."

I read this article about Iannetta and was excited for two reasons. 1. He's an easy player to cheer for and 2. He can make a huge difference for the Rockies this year. As has been noted by many writers and analysts, it might very well be up to bounce back players like Iannetta, Ian Stewart, and Seth Smith to nudge the Rockies over the hump and back into the playoffs. So far so good for the team's catcher.

*FACIAL HAIR ALERT* Iannetta is wearing a handlebar mustache, bordering on a Fu Manchu (you be the judge). Excellent form. And clearly this choice is paying off at the plate.

A Video

Sports Illustrated shows the top five plays from Sunday's action, including some sweet defense (and a triple play!). You cannot tell a ton from three games, but one thing fans learned this weekend is that defense is always important. When the Rockies made their playoff runs, specifically the 2007 streak to the World Series, their outstanding defense was a key component to their success. As we start to handicap the NL West, you can put a check mark by the Rockies in the team defense discussion.

The Diamondbacks will struggle in many other areas too, but their inability to catch the ball will cost them plenty of games, as it almost did against the Rockies on opening night. And how about Aubrey Huff in right field for the Giants last night? My teammates in slow pitch softball take better routes to the ball, and that's in tennis shoes and after drinking four beers.

A Photo

Or a series of them. Also from Sports Illustrated, these are some milestones that players might reach this season. Left off the list: Huston Street's pursuit of the record of "most hits surrendered after working the count to 0-2," ESPN extending its untouchable record of "pointless Red Sox and Yankees segments," and Matthew Lecroy establishing himself as the first and only person to ever return to the league as a player/coach and lead his team in home runs. Sources close to me say that he's expecting the call-up any day now.

A Tweet

@Buster_ESPN: You can't stop the Orioles. You can only hope to contain them. Four wins, zero losses.

Hot out of the gate are the Orioles, the Rangers, the Phillies, and...the Royals! As for the Orioles, it seems like we have seen this story before. An AL East team not called the Yankees or the Red Sox starts hot, then we wonder if they can survive a long season in that division, and then they end up in 3rd place way behind 1st place as the scariest .500 team in baseball. Or...we had the Rays, who actually did keep it up more than once. So who knows? The longer the Orioles hang around, the more fun it will be.



More Facial Hair

I do not like much about the San Francisco Giants, but as a reasonably informed fan I respect them. I respect their outstanding pitching. I respect the fact that their farm system has produced Buster Posey and Brandon Belt in back to back seasons. And I really, really respect their facial hair. This gives me a chance to point out Brian Wilson's beard again and to give Barry Zito credit for his excellent mustache.

Look at it this way, Giants fans. Zito is stealing huge chunks of money from your franchise, but at least he has a cool mustache.

As we continue to handicap the NL West, the Giants have the edge in "awesome facial hair." Chris Iannetta is keeping the Rockies in the race, and it's up to Jason Giambi and Ryan Spilborghs to lead them past the defending champs.

An Unrelated Note...

Feeling burdened by our lack of diversity, Warning Track Power has added David Schaffner to the crew. Dave is left handed and he likes tennis. So there are two ways he's different right away.

Baseball Links

Joe Posnanski ranks the 32 best players for the 2011 season http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/03/31/the-32-best-players-in-baseball-for-2011/

An update from the Barry Bonds trial http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Avypol2OO1TqSoHmvfh8GFgRvLYF?slug=ap-bondstrial

Jayson Stark celebrates the start of the new season http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog?name=stark_jayson&id=6289975&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmlb%2fblog%3fname%3dstark_jayson%26id%3d6289975

Peter Gammons on the importance of flexible players http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110402&content_id=17298118&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb