Now that Major League Baseball’s opening week is in the books, a review is necessary after a week full of triumph and misery.
The 2009 season opened right where the 2008 season ended, which was in the city of brotherly love.
The Philadelphia Phillies celebrated their ‘08 World Series championship by raising a flag honoring that team at their ballpark, Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies’ opponents that night were the Atlanta Braves, and 15 minutes after the celebration another set of fireworks were set off in form of the Braves’ bats.
The Braves hit three home runs off of Phillies’ starter Brett Myers.
The offensive explosion was led by rookie, center fielder Jordan Schafer. Schafer, 22, who in his first Major League game had two hits, one of which was his first home run in the Majors.
The Phillies would get their revenge on the final game of the series.
In the seventh inning, they found themselves down seven runs with two innings remaining in the game.
The Fighting Phil’s lived up to their nickname by rallying to score eight runs in the seventh, and one in the eighth to clement a 12 to 11 win over Atlanta.
Not far from Philadelphia is Baltimore where the free-spending New York Yankees were opening their 2009 campaign against the Orioles.
The Yankees’ biggest off-season acquisition found himself in a flock of trouble in the form of the Orioles’ batters.
Flamethrower C.C. Sabathia gave up six runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings against a run of the mill Orioles team.
Although shaky would describe Sabathia’s first outing, his second outing reminded everyone why he received the big bucks.
The start came against the Kansas City Royals who is a young team on the rise and everyone’s pick to be a dark horse in the American League this season.
He pitched 7 2/3 innings, and tallied six strike-outs against the Royals in the second of three games.
Although, Sabathia surrendered six hits, his performance wasn’t dampened due to the fact that none of those hits turned into runs, and the Yankees came away with a 6 to 1 win on Saturday.
The worst news of the week by far came early Thursday morning in Fullerton, Calif. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a car accident after leaving the stadium.
Adenhart, a Baltimore native, was the starting pitcher for the Angels on Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics.
In his season debut, Adenhart pitched 6 innings, and struck out five batters.
He surrendered seven hits with zero earned runs, but received a no-decision due to a late inning rally by the Athletics who went on to win 6 to 4.
Adenhart was a 14th round pick by the Angels in 2004.
He had been a member of the USA Olympic qualifying team in 2006, and was the youngest pitcher in the Majors at the time of his call-up from the Minors in 2008.
If the opening week is any indication of what is to come then fasten your seatbelts for a drama-filled ride.
I can only hope that the drama remains between the lines. R.I.P Nick Adenhart.