So.. opening day is over and the stories are coming in from around the league. Is Roger Clemens through? Will he return? If so.. with who?
Did the Dodgers, Mets and a few others improve over the off-season? What about the Soriano saga? Or... more so.. The Bonds epic?
It's all here. Take a trip around the league...
CLICK HERE TO SEE A PHOTO GALLERYARLINGTON, Texas — Unsigned and not-quite-retired Roger Clemens spent nearly an hour in the Red Sox clubhouse before the game, including closed-door conversations with general manager Theo Epstein, principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner, then watched alongside Rangers owner Tom Hicks as Boston won 7-3.
Clemens received a standing ovation when introduced during the first inning. In between, he made it clear he is considering the Red Sox, Rangers, New York Yankees and Houston Astros — if he decides to play this season.
He can't negotiate with Houston until May 1 because the Astros did not offer him salary arbitration, but he plans to attend Tuesday's game to receive his 2005 NL championship ring.
"I don't have any interest in playing right now," said Clemens, 43, emphasizing "right now."
Clemens added he would be watching the four teams' progress. He said he has no timetable for making a decision, but agent Randy Hendricks, who was with him in the Boston clubhouse, said he would advise not waiting past the All-Star break.
Clemens said the teams' championship chances might override the lure of remaining in his hometown Houston, at least at a salary below what he views as his open-market value.
"If I was offered arbitration," he said, "we probably wouldn't be talking about this right now."
By Paul White, USA TODAYBonds has them howling in San DiegoSAN DIEGO — The sellout crowd at Petco Park, witnessing perhaps the final opening-day game of Barry Bonds' career, responded by vociferously booing the San Francisco Giants slugger at nearly every opportunity.
Bonds, under investigation by Major League Baseball for allegations he began using steroids after the 1998 season, was booed heavily during pregame ceremonies, in his first at-bat and on the first catch he made. He was greeted by an array of signs, including one that read "Barr-roid."
Bonds, who at 708 career home runs is six shy of Babe Ruth and 47 from Hank Aaron, ignored the "s-t-e-r-o-i-d" taunts and doubled to left-center on the first pitch he saw from San Diego starter Jake Peavy. Bonds finished 1-for-4 as the Padres won 6-1.
Peavy, who gave up Bonds' 700th home run, called him "the best player I've ever played against or will play against."
"You've got to respect the guy," said Atlanta Braves special assistant Jim Fregosi, who like Bonds graduated from Serra High in San Mateo, Calif. "But I just wish everything was cleared up, one way or another."
Matos wakes himself upBALTIMORE — Outfielder Luis Matos, the player that no team wanted in the offseason, including his own Baltimore Orioles, is learning a valuable lesson this spring.
"I'm not going to take anything for granted anymore," Matos said after hitting his second consecutive Opening Day home run in the Orioles' 9-6 win against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. "The manager told me what I needed to do, and I am going to do it. It was a wake-up call."
Matos, 27, hit .303 in 2003 but slumped last season, leading to a heart-to-heart with Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo, who told Matos he needed to work harder. The Orioles tried to trade Matos but couldn't.
When the Orioles acquired center fielder Corey Patterson, Matos figured he'd move to left. Then the Orioles added Jeff Conine, and Matos realized his job was in trouble.
Patterson had a bad spring while Matos hit .350 and impressed with his hustle. So Monday, Matos batted second and played center.
Matos' first two innings didn't go well. The Devil Rays scored on a short sacrifice fly to center. Matos got a bad grip, and his throw bounced on the mound. He got doubled off second to end the Orioles' half of the first and struck out in the second inning.
In the fifth, he became the first Oriole since Frank Robinson in 1969-70 to hit back-to-back opening-day home runs.
By Mel Antonen, USA TODAYInjury pains Dodgers againLOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers' penchant for acquiring high-mileage veterans in the team's first year under general manager Ned Colletti was the source of much consternation during the offseason.
L.A. players logged the second-most time on the disabled list in the National League in 2005 (1,366 days), and the club's Opening Day lineup Monday averaged 32.6 years.
So word that new first baseman Nomar Garciaparra would sit out the opener and possibly go on the disabled list with a strained rib-cage muscle had a certain here-we-go-again feel to it. Already, new center fielder Kenny Lofton, 38, had been placed on the DL with a calf strain.
As a further omen, scheduled national anthem singer Kristin Chenoweth was sidelined with laryngitis. Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish pinch-sang for her.
Then two three-run homers powered the Atlanta Braves to an 11-10 victory, spoiling the debut of Dodgers manager Grady Little.
Colletti smiled when asked whether the early injuries were a bad sign.
"If it goes from now till the end of the season," he said, "you'd probably be right."
When someone pointed out it was raining, Colletti cracked: "Things are looking up."
By Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAYPresident uses executive priviledgeCINCINNATI — President Bush became the first sitting president to throw a ceremonial pitch in Cincinnati as the Reds lost to the Chicago Cubs. The ball to catcher Jason LaRue was high and off the plate, but Bush called it "my best pitch, which was kind of a slow ball."
Bush received a loud standing ovation when he took the mound in this Republican-leaning city. He was accompanied by two injured soldiers and a father who lost his son in Afghanistan. Little American flags were distributed to the crowd of 42,591 before the game. Fans waved them excitedly as Bush was introduced and drowned out the few scattered protesters, like the family sitting behind home plate wearing matching red-and-white T-shirts that said "11-04-08" — the date of the next presidential election.
Bush, the former Texas Rangers owner, told Fox Sports Network that he has been a baseball fan since birth. "I've got the dish at home at the White House, and so, when I'm doing my work, I keep a game on."
Bush shook hands with players from both teams before they took the field. In the Reds clubhouse, Griffey gave him a black bat, and pitcher Kent Mercker showed he was a loyal Bush supporter holding up a blue Bush-Cheney hat.
In the Cubs clubhouse, Bush announced, "This is the year." He went straight to manager Dusty Baker, grabbed his hand, and turned him to the cameras. "Smile," Bush said, shaking Baker's hand with a broad grin. Baker did as instructed, saying, "I'll do what I got to do."
By The Associated PressSoriano in middle of major playNEW YORK — All eyes were rightly fixed on Washington's Alfonso Soriano in left field when the Nationals played the New York Mets on Monday. Turns out he was being watched for the wrong reasons.
Most in the record Opening Day crowd of 54,371 wanted to see how Soriano would fare after he reluctantly made the transition to the outfield after playing his first five seasons at second base.
Soriano was the central figure in Washington's 3-2 loss to the Mets — but it had nothing to do with positioning. Soriano made four putouts, including a nice running catch by the wall in foul territory.
In the eighth inning, Soriano led off with a single but was thrown out at home as he attempted to score the tying run on Ryan Zimmerman's double to left.
Then again, maybe not.
Replays showed catcher Paul Lo Duca dropped shortstop Jose Reyes' relay throw, then quickly grabbed it in time to fool umpire Tim Tschida.
"Show it, sell it and if you don't get it, you don't get it," Lo Duca said of his sleight of hand. "We were lucky enough to get it."
After the game, Tschida saw the replay and admitted his mistake.
"We've all seen it now. The angle there is pretty conclusive that the ball came out," he said. "From my vantage point, it looked like he made the tag. For the brief second the ball was out of my sight, it came out of his glove."
It happened so quickly that both Soriano and Washington manager Frank Robinson were fooled. Neither argued.
By Tom Pedulla, USA TODAYPosted 4/4/2006 3:30 AM
