Opening day!

That went pretty much according to script. Except for Johan Santana struggling in the windy and cold conditions, and the offense collectively shitting itself in pressure situations, Omar Minaya could not have imagined things going better after his offseason revamp of the bullpen. Johan went 5.2, handed the ball off to Sean Green, who pitched 1.2 scoreless, followed by Putz and K Rod, closing out a tidy 2-1 win. Of course my favorite moment happened in the second inning when Ryan Church was on second with one out, popular scapegoat Luis Castillo was at the plate with the pitcher on deck. The announcers went out of their way to mention that manager Jerry Manuel approached Castillo before the season about this very situation and implored him to be more aggressive.

At least Johan put the fucking ball in play! And the shortstop made a diving stop to get that ground ball. Castillo hit a ball foul then promptly watched 4 pitches fly by without taking his bat off the shoulder. Dammit!