THE DUGOUT: Poor start in the new Yankee Stadium

Sometimes excitement can be short lived.

The New York Yankees bid farewell to their old ballpark this past week by hosting the Cleveland Indians in the newly built Yankee Stadium. The new version of the historic ballpark came with a $1.5 billion price tag and lofty expectations were thrust upon the Yankees to impress the 48,271 eager fans packed into attendance who wanted nothing less than an exciting game.

The new stadium shone in the Thursday afternoon sun, but the bullpen didn’t. Following six solid innings from CC Sabathia, the New York bullpen surrendered nine runs in a disastrous seventh inning. Cleveland prevailed by a final score of 10-2.

There have certainly been better home openers over the years.

Fenway Park, in its first official game on April 20, 1912, showcased an 11-inning showdown between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Highlanders in which the home team prevailed 7-6 before 20,000 people. This exciting opener didn’t receive its fair share of publicity, however, as it was just days after the tragic Titanic sinking.

The Chicago White Sox opened their US Cellular Field on a note similar to the Yankees of 2009. On April 18, 1991, the White Sox lost to the Detroit Tigers by a score of 16-0.

Yes, the Yankees lost their first game in the new Yankee Stadium. Does it carry any significance? On Friday Derek Jeter hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, which led to a 6-5 win over the Indians. I think the Yankees will be just fine.

Gary Sheffield became the 25th player in major league baseball history to reach the 500 home run plateau on Friday. Signed by the New York Mets on April 4, Sheffield was sent in as a pinch-hitter in the Friday contest against the Milwaukee Brewers. Facing a full count, Sheffield launched the pitch 385 feet to record his first hit of the season.

After he crossed home plate there was a stampede of Mets onto the field. His teammates for all of two weeks were fully behind the 40-year-old slugger.

The Minnesota Twins have had a sluggish start to the 2009 baseball season, headlined by troubles in the bullpen. On Friday, April 17, the Twins surrendered five runs in the seventh inning to give the visiting Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim an 8-3 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, however, the Twins found their offensive footing behind the bat of Jason Kubel. Hitting a single, double, and triple in earlier at-bats, Kubel launched a grand slam over the center field wall to hit for the ninth cycle in Twins’ history.

The 12-9 loss added insult to injury for the Angels, who have been struggling with numerous injury problems this year. The tragic loss of Nick Adenhart, combined with the injuries of Kelvim Escobar, John Lackey, and Ervin Santana have put the Angels in a desperate need for starting pitchers. Dustin Moseley was assigned the start against the Twins on Friday, but he left after three innings with elbow stiffness.

The biggest blow the Angels took, though, was the news that power-hitting Vladimir Guerrero would be placed on the 15-day disabled list with a torn muscle in his chest.

The Kansas City Royals, although plagued with one of the worst offenses in the American League so far in 2009, have started their season with a 6-4 record through Friday’s games. The Royals traveled to Arlington to face the Texas Rangers on Friday, and walked away with a 12-3 victory; more runs than they scored in their first five games.

Gil Meche has had a fantastic start to the season as well, and is a major reason the Royals aren’t in the AL Central cellar. He is sporting an ERA of 2.25 through his first three games, and pitched six scoreless innings in a ballpark, where he had an ERA of 8.10 in previous starts.

Friday was a good day to be a Chicago Cubs fan. Ryan Ludwick was doing the best he could to vault his team to the top of the NL Central by extending his MLB-leading hitting streak to 20 games. He sent two balls over the outfield wall against the St. Louis Cardinals in that Friday contest, but teammate Alfonso Soriano stole the spotlight from him in the bottom of the eighth inning. Trailing 7-6 to the Cardinals, Soriano took a low slider for a ride over the left field bleachers to give the Cubs an 8-7 lead, which they would hold on to for the win.

Following a great postseason performance by the Tampa Bay Rays last year, the Marlins are doing all they can to draw the attention of Florida baseball fans. So far they’re doing great. With a record of 9-1 through April 17, the Marlins are enjoying their best start to a season in franchise history. On Friday the Marlins took the hosting Washington Nationals to extra innings, where Jeremy Hermida hit an infield single to score Jorge Cantu and eventually give the Marlins another victory.

Florida has had great showings from their pitching staff this year, and Josh Johnson is leading the way. Through two starts Johnson has surrended just one run to give him an ERA of 0.57. He has struck out 15 batters and boasts a 2-0 record.

Andrew Kneeland is a sophomore at Sahuarita High School. He is an intern at the Green Valley News.