Well, here we go. I hope everyone remembers that today is the first day of the rebuilding Orioles. This season may get worse before it gets better, but in just a couple short years, we may be on the cusp of something great. When things get rough this year, and next year, I hope the vultures leave Dave Trembley alone. He is only managing the players he is being given. The potential is there for a solid organization. Patience, patience...

You have a suit ?

Besides Crawford and Upton, that lineup doesn't scare me that much. I think Pena returns to his career yearly numbers becasue that is what most people typically do unless they are just beginning their career. Aybar, Hinske, Navarro, Bartlett, and old man Floyd? I think we may be give TB a run for their money after all. :)
Let's start 2-1!

Very impressive lineup....the O's is OK...

Huff must have been looking at a list of the closing times of the local watering holes, not your suit Roch.

Is there anywhere you can stream the radio broadcast of today's game?

Opening Day is way better than nudie magazine day!!!

Eric Hinske? He made the Rays and is starting? Maybe these guys aren't as improved as I thought if that guy can weasle his way onto an MLB roster.
The Rays have a good nucleus but you have to question some of their moves-8 mill/2 yrs to Troy Percival and any $$$ to injury-prone Cliff Floyd is too much. He should be on the the all-DL team, along with guys like Rolen/Edmonds/Nomar/Colon,etc...
Let's play ball! I'll be sneaking looks at the scores during work up here in still snowy Canada.

Jay Payton looks funny in a baseball uniform. Posing as a professional.

All of this kicking of Jay Gibbons is a little uncalled for, especially when some of it wasn't true. Complete defensive liability in the outfield? Maybe in recent memory, but in fairness to Jay I saw him make some nice catches.

Granted every ball hit in his direction was an adventure (and sometimes a misadventure), but before he started getting hurt every year, he really gave it his all in the field and made some nice diving catches. He also made some nice plays at first, though not consistently. If memory serves correctly, one of his trips to the DL came after he crashed into the right field wall while making an excellent catch. Rag on Gibby all you want, but keep in this mind he played the game hard when he was here.

Sudhir -- I don't see Peter Angelos fighting to keep from paying Gibbons. He's a highly successful lawyer and knows that this would be a tough case to win, after all he and his team BENEFITED from the numbers he put up. Fans came out to see Gibby hit homers and he obliged them.

Another problem with mounting a case against Jay, is that the defense attorney can turn around and say, "Gee, Mr. Angelos, you're still paying big bucks to Brian Roberts, and HE admitted to using steroids, didn't he? So we've got a little double standard here, don't we?

A third reason is that Gibbons was a favorite of Angelos. Like B-Rob, Jay did much in the way of community service, so I think this is a parting as friends, so to speak. I could even see him coming back to the team at some future date, though not as a player.

Let's get some better position players in here to keep the ball rolling. We're deep enough in pitching.Sherill should get us a stud1st baseman at the deadline.

You're right, JPA. The current composition of the Rays roster isn't very threatening, with Kazmir out, Longoria in the minors, and their trove of pitching prospects also still in the minors. Despite the popular theme of baseball experts, the Rays don't look any better than us... yet. Their bullpen is the definition of retread. It might prove serviceable, it might be horrendous.

For what it's worth, any gloom and doom statement about the Orioles being the worst in the majors is unfair, too. Stick us in the National League, and we're probably not far off average (our yearly showing in interleague games doesn't support this, but I think that's a fluke). We may still wind up with the worst overall record, but we're better than teams like the Giants.

A quick heads-up on the weather. I'm over in Cincinnati and I think you usually get your weather in Baltimore a hour or so after us. At 2:35 the Reds and D'Backs are in a rain delay of a game that was supposed to start at 2:10 EST.

Ten minutes ago I looked out of the window and saw a light, but steady rain coming down, but checking back again I see it's stopped. The sky remains overcast, however. Our forecast here was for rain off and on through the day, and it looks like the weather people are right.

I agree that the Rays aren't trotting out a very scary lineup there. Nice to see them starting Willy Aybar just so they can keep Longoria's arbitration clock from starting.

Here's hoping for a positive start to the season!

Matt R -- Free audio? That I don't know about, but you can get the audio at the following link, but you'll need to pay $14.95 for a year's subscription (not a bad deal, really, when you consider that you can listen to any MLB game, including postseason and next year's preseason, and the games are archived so you can listen later):

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/scoreboard/20080331.html

***Insert obligatory birthday suit remark/joke here***

Huff gets booed, Jim Hunter is a mess, there's no one in the stadium.

Not a very appealing opening ceremony.

Paternity suit or Libel suit? Is Angelos' firm defending you?

Ken Francis,

I agree with your point to a degree. Gibby did make some nice diving catches and always gave it his all. On the other hand, I think some of those diving catches were because he got a bad read on the ball. He always seemed to play well if the ball was hit in front of him, but had trouble going back on balls. He also had a pretty solid arm.

I remember attending a game against the Phillies at OPACY about four years ago and Gibbons made three great plays in the outfield, robbing guys of hits. These Philly fans sitting behind me thought he was Roberto Clemente that day.

Overall, it's fair to say he was a below average fielder who always hustled. I agree with most posters that he had to go, but I wish the guy nothing but success.

Hey Roch, did Millar do his Ray Lewis during introductions? if not, then he should have done it on 2nd after the 2-run double... GO O'S!!!!!

Ken Francis. I get your point about not going overboard bashing Gibbons but in what capacity do you forsee him coming back to the O's?
I can't think of any role he could fill and it's doubtful the Orioles would want much to do with him. The big cheques they are going to be issuing him every 2 weeks are enough of a reminder!
Who knows what Jay will be doing with the rest of his life but I don't think they are going to have to hold any fundraising benefits for him.

Charlie R -- I think your assessment of Gibby as a below average fielder who always hustled is probably accurate. He pretty much hustled in all aspects of the game, and when a player does that he can get the most out of his ability. I can't ever remember Jay dogging it as he ran to first, as ticked so many of us off with Tejada at times.

TerryP -- I'm not really sure as to what sort of position, but Gibbons strikes me as someone who will stay in the game after he retires. Not that he'd need the money, of course. Were he to come back as a scout or coach I don't know why Angelos (assuming he still has the club in five years or so) wouldn't consider him.

Yes, he got burned with Gibby, but we all know that had the red head's bat not gone totally into the deep freeze, he's still be on the team. Not a doubt about that, especially with the money he's getting paid, but the point is that his cut from the team was done free of any acromonious sniping from either side, so the bridge is still intact.

As for any questions about whether Jay can coach, none of us really know. He is personable, well-spoken and well-liked by his former teammates, which is all to his favor. And we all know that to be a coach doesn't require one to have been an All-Star. That said, when Gibbons was in his prime he was a decent hitter, and I'm not just talking about his can of spinach, either. He hit for a decent average on more than one occasion (.277 three different years). His lifetime BA of .260 isn't great, but is still respectable.

Maybe Mr Gibbons , if he doesnt get any major league or minor league offers , should consider going to Japan to play ? he could even try coaching or scouting without the pressure of his contract .

we all know Gibbons is excellent teammate and community service resumes . all Gibbons needs is time and hard work .