The minor league season opened with a bang on Thursday as the Syracuse Chiefs became the first club in the minors to take the field, as they faced the Cincinnati Reds' Triple-A affiliate, the Louisville Bats. The Chiefs also played the game on grass, after the old turf was removed from the stadium in the off-season.

That's a bit more like it.

Well, I guess we can let the Bad Guys win their last home opener at the old stadium. They'd do the same for us, right?

Do you realize that the Dodgers have played more seasons in Dodger Stadium than they played in Ebbets Field?

The Jays are still undefeated!

Turns out Matt Stairs' hip injury is worse than first thought and he is now out for the season. As a result the Jays signed Barry Bonds as a replacement.

Bonds contract is a one year deal for $5 million, with bonuses of $1 million for every 100 plate appearances he has.

It's time, babies. It's time.

Time to wait until tomorrow...

Thanks to the stupefying greatness of Sean Forman's BaseballReference.com. we can now view the Opening Day starting lineup for every team, every season, ever. Here are Blue Jay Opening Day lineups dating back to that Opening Opening Day back in '77. Go take a look, revel in a trip down memory lane, then come back here and answer these questions ...

I like to spread a little Sunshine and Light around here from time to time.

Not always, though. Just sometimes

The Lansing Lugnuts and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats have announced their opening day minor league rosters and from that we can make some assumptions about the Syracuse and Dunedin rosters.

Travis Snider appears to be headed to Dunedin to start 2008.

Time to consider the local heroes....

We have optimism, we have pessimism. We have faith, we have skepticism. We have - ahem - covered many of the bases.

A look at JP Ricciardi from Jeff Blair.  A pretty good & fair article.

Do we really need a preview? They're better than the Athletics, Mariners and Rangers. Again. They're worse than the Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers, and Cleveland. Again. They will make the playoffs. Again. They will be a fashionable sleeper pick on account of their good starting pitching and general fundamental soundness. Again. But although anything can happen in the playoffs, no amount of fashionableness can overcome the fact that Anaheim's OBP skills are usually a teensy bit subpar by AL playoff standards. Chances are they'll just get rolled by the dreaded Red Sox in the first round. Again.

Fortunately, the AL West is a foregone conclusion. Unless the Angels' top pitchers all get hurt or something.

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow (where's that Global Warming we keep hearing about anyway) would prevent Liam from delivering his Giants preview. Although a cranky Internet connection delayed it somewhat.

Take it away...

Sort of.

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