2011 MLB Opening Day: A Couple of Questions to Open a Very Exciting Season
Ah, the sweet smell of fresh-cut grass. The sound of the wooden bat smacking the baseball. Hearing the umpire yell, “Striiiike!”
It’s here, my friends. Not only Opening Day, but also the beginning of what should be a marvelous summer.
Of course, as a new season comes, so do so many questions.
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Will the Albert Pujols contract issues become a distraction?
No, they will not. Unfortunately, I do not think the Cardinals are going to be in the playoff race in order for it to be a distraction. With the injury to Adam Wainwright, they are already depleting their chances of the playoffs from average to slim.
Is Carlos Gonzalez the real deal?
Of course he is! Last year he hit .336 with 34 HR and 117 RBI, but let's throw in his 26 stolen bases as well. That also was just his first full season in the majors. In the previous season, he hit .284 with 13 HR and 29 RBI. Maybe those are not the production numbers you were looking for, but they are still there. Gonzalez looks to have a promising future, although another .330 season might be out of the question.
Can Miguel Cabrera keep his off-the-field issues off the field?
As our very own Caleb Parkinson writes, “Despite his years of service in the bigs already, Cabrera is still young and very much in his prime. I find it hard to think that he won’t have yet another monster year at the plate.”
Will we get more looks on instant replay?
Obviously strikes and balls are out of the question, and I’m going to assume you know why. However, safe-out calls should and can be reviewable. You have to look no further than last year, when Armando Galarraga threw his near (should have been) perfect game but Jim Joyce blew the call.
I’m not mad at Joyce for the bad call, because let’s face it, it happens to the best of us whether you want to admit it or not. What makes me mad is that baseball is not willing to fix it even though we have the technology available.
To sum it up, we are not going to get any more looks into instant replay, at least not this year.
I sure hope all of you tune in to the games so you do not miss one second of great action. I have only predicted a small handful of questions for this season—only time will tell them all.
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