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Ozzie Smith, perhaps the best fielder to ever play baseball, used to celebrate Opening Day with a backflip as he ran out to shortstop.
The major league baseball season is a drama played out over six months and 2,430 games, continuing a history of events, players and accomplishments that has run for well more than a century. The newest season started Sunday night for TV purposes — the Cardinals defeated the Cubs 3-0. But for most teams, including the Dodgers, Angels and Padres, Opening Day is Monday.
The first plot twist off the new season came Sunday when the Padres, already possibly better than the Dodgers after a winter of furious roster moves by both clubs, traded for the best closer among relief pitchers in the National League. Craig Kimbrel comes from Atlanta, where he led the league in saves the last two seasons, made the All-Star team the last four seasons, and was the league's rookie of the year when he broke in in 2011. He joins a Padres team that looks to already have better and deeper pitching than the Dodgers and has a more powerful outfield. Matt Kemp, once the best hitter on the Dodgers, is now the top slugger on the Padres. If he rolls out an MVP-level season, as he did once before, the Dodgers' new management team will look silly for giving up on him.
Defense is a question about the Padres, and the Dodgers' infield is clearly a better unit. The Dodgers have the highest payroll in baseball, but not the best roster. The Dodgers also will start the season without three injured pitchers: closer Kenley Jansen, reliever Brandon League and starter Hyun-Jin Ryu. The Dodgers are also turning center field over to rookie Joc Pederson, and in the end ESPN columnist Jim Bowden, a former general manager, predicts the Dodgers will miss the playoffs and the Padres will win the National League West.
Some more baseball Opening Day notes:
- ESPN columnist Keith Law predicts the Dodgers and Angels will make the playoffs.
- The Dodgers host the Padres at 1:10 p.m. at the stadium. The Angels open the season in Seattle at the same time.
- For the second season, the Dodgers won't be on TV unless you have Time Warner Cable. Here's an update on the standoff from the LA Times.
- The Angels and their injured, tarnished and possibly declining outfielder Josh Hamilton are stuck with each other, says ESPN's Buster Olney.
- In a confidential poll of major league players, the Dodgers Yasiel Puig was voted the second most-overrated player in the sport.
- Todd Leitz, the former anchor and reporter at KNX 1070 and KABC 790, is the new public address announcer at Dodger Stadium.
- Organist Nancy Bea Hefley's workload has been reduced to one song during the game: "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in the 7th inning, says Bill Plaschke.
