Saved by zero

A-Rod saved us. Hail prima donna, full of grace. You know, aside from the fact that his three RBI didn't technically affect the outcome of the game.

But I've decided to be positive about him as long as possible, since I've failed at my attempt to be positive about the Yankees' permanent homelessness. So actually, I'm going to credit the early lead he provided Sabathia with giving CC the confidence/comfort level he needed to have his first truly dominant start of the year.

I'm also not going to say that we finally saw "the real CC." We've been seeing the real CC all along. A good pitcher, but not a great one, who has flashes of brilliance like last night. We got him because we needed starters. We drastically overpaid for him because the Yankees show love by wasting money, just as they expect their fans to do. However, if the man could continue getting run support, and Captain Buzzcut would continue letting him stay in when he has a lead so the bullpen can't blow it, he could certainly prove himself to be the #1 starter we've told ourselves he is.

Too bad that will never happen.

Wait! Positive thoughts! Good thing that has finally started to happen. Let's hope it continues.

As a side note, why are we in Baltimore again for the second time in 5 weeks? Who makes these schedules? They're absurd.

And Alex: I still don't like you, but thanks for the runs. Now sit down and shut up until it's time to play again.

Live blog, you say? Sure, why not...

Well, here we are in the fourth inning. Sabathia coughed up three last inning, but it could have been worse. Certainly, the Yankees should be able to come up with two more.

The B&O warehouse, which Kay and Singleton are talking about right now, is, if you ask me, the best thing about Camden Yards. It was a nice idea, a Disneyfied nod to Old-Tyme Base-Ball, but I honestly don't care for the place. I haven't been there since 1996. Maybe I'd like it better if I went back. But I doubt it, now that it's not even distinctive, having been copied so many times since. Supreme irony, that: it was supposed to be a reaction to the cookie-cutter copies of Shea, and it has spawned a brood of imitators Shea could only have dreamed about. Including Shea's own  replacement.

Bottom 4: Derek Jeter has plenty of range, thank you very much, but it's mostly vertical. And Michael Jordan wouldn't have had that liner, so Derek gets a break. CC Sabathia is a large man. I knew this, but wow. He is a large man. And based on his command thus far in this game, he ranks second to David Weathers as best Yankee pitcher to wear #52, at least among those I can think of offhand. Jose Contreras, another 52, is starting to come to mind, and that's not a good thing. I'm sure he'll be fine later, but he looks ill at ease out there. Nice reach by Teixiera to dig out a low throw from Jeter for the DP. CC's clearly not at his best, but he doesn't have that deer-in-the-headlights look so many Yankee pitchers have had over the last few years, so I'm encouraged.

Top 5: CC and that heating pad are making me nervous. Brett Gardner is scary fast, but not quite fast enough. Speaking of speed, nice work by Johnny Damon legging out a triple here. I've been a boobird myself, but these guys are truly impressive...Teixiera has been up long enough to run the count full, and they're still at it. Aaaaand Matsui pops out to end the inning. I'm tired of writing this, and you're tired of reading it. I'll check in after the game.

Update: Sabathia went 4 1/3 and allowed 6 ER. I take back everything I said...this was a terrible start for Sabathia. However, that was a beautiful play by Gardner to end the inning.

It all begins in Baltimore

And so in a matter of hours, the Yankees kick off their season in a not-so-charming one-horse town that has alternately called itself, over the years, "Charm City," "The City That Reads," and perhaps my personal favorite self-appointed title for any purpose, under any circumstances, ever: "The Greatest City in America."

Very few things on the Major League Baseball master schedule have made any sense in recent years...two-game series on the west coast, road trips to one town at a time, stopping at home in the Bronx between Oakland and Anaheim, and it goes on. But this...the Yankees opening at Baltimore...this makes sense. To wit:

• The Yankees were the Highlanders, and the Highlanders were the original Baltimore Orioles when the American League was born in 1901.
• Babe Ruth? Baltimore native.
• Baltimore invented the trend of tearing down an actual old ballpark in favor of a fake old ballpark. Not that Memorial Stadium is comparable to Yankee Stadium per se, but...yeah.
• Rumor (i.e. complete fabrication on my part) has it that working title for Interactive Yankeetainment Experience had been Camden Yards XVII; Citi Field was to be called Camden Yards XVIII.
• Yankees poised to knock down House that Ruth Built; Orioles knocked down Bar that Ruth's Father Built to make way for Camden Yards.
• Baltimore is the setting for The Wire, HBO drama about illegal drug trade. Yankees' offseason was the setting for The Alex Rodriguez Circus, ESPN drama about illegal drug trade.
• Remember that 4-game sweep of the then-relevant Orioles at Camden Yards in the Summer of 1996? I was at those four games. Good times. Inebriated fellow Yankee fan in front of me dubbed Jesse Orosco "Jesse Fiasco," which was pretty awesome. Oriole brass kept 40,000 fans waiting through hurricane-induced rain delay during second game. Not so awesome.
• Season has to begin somewhere.

So there you have it. It all begins in Baltimore. And it all begins at 4:05, which means I have to go find a radio to bring to work in the very likely event I don't actually leave at 4 like I'm supposed to.