The LoHud Yankees Blog

Not much to tell you. Same pitchers, same lineup tomorrow. “Sometimes it rains,” Derek Jeter said.

Brian Cashman said the weather forecast indicated rain through tomorrow afternoon, hence the decision to play tomorrow night.

Here’s Joe Girardi’s brief post-rainout press conference:

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Chien-Ming Wang didn’t have much of a birthday to celebrate. But the Taiwanese media did get him a small cake.

So much for Opening Day. We’ll try it again tomorrow.

Fans holding paid tickets for today’s game may use them today or exchange their paid tickets for any regular season game at Yankee Stadium within 12 months, subject to availability.

Due to limited ticket availability for Yankees home games during the 2008 season, fans are highly encouraged to use their tickets for tomorrow night’s rescheduled game.

Tickets can be exchanged at Yankee Stadium advance ticket windows only. They are open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4p.m., and until the seventh inning of any regularly scheduled home game.

It’ll be 7:05 p.m. tomorrow night.

YANKEES
18 Johnny Damon LF
2 Derek Jeter SS
53 Bobby Abreu RF
13 Alex Rodriguez 3B
25 Jason Giambi 1B
24 Robinson Cano 2B
20 Jorge Posada C
55 Hideki Matsui LF
28 Melky Cabrera CF
40 Chien-Ming Wang RHP

BLUE JAYS
11 David Eckstein SS
4 Shannon Stewart LF
15 Alex Rios RF
10 Vernon Wells CF
35 Frank Thomas DH
17 Lyle Overbay 1B
2 Aaron Hill 2B
19 Marco Scutaro 3B
9 Gregg Zaun C
32 Roy Halladay RHP

Yankees vs. Halladay: Damon 22-67, Jeter 16-62, Abreu 2-12, A-Rod 13-47, Giambi 17-54, Cano 5-13, Posada 12-37, Matsui 7-34, Cabrera 4-15.

Jays vs. Wang: Eckstein 0-2, Stewart 1-6, Rios 3-15, Wells 6-16, Thomas 1-11, Overbay 4-8, Hill 9-14, Scutaro 1-4, Zaun 2-12.

Now that we’re in the regular season, once I post the lineup I’ll post any updates under it. So everything will be in the same place. This is what we did last year and it seemed to work out well.

UPDATE, 12:28 p.m.: * * * THE YANKEES HAVE JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE START OF THE GAME HAS BEEN DELAYED * * * The weather is supposed to improve enough to play at some point this afternoon.

UPDATE, 12:50 p.m.: The lovely Yankees Chick is live blogging the game for AOL’s FanHouse blog today. So check out the wit and wisdom of Maureen if I get too boring for you.

UPDATE, 1:14 p.m.: The clubhouses are closed, so all we can do it wait at this point. The Yankees seem to believe they’ll get the game in this afternoon. The weather is supposed to be worse tomorrow.

I’ll let you know if I hear anything definitive.

UPDATE, 2:17 p.m.: Nothing definitive yet. But it sounds like they’re planning to cancel the game and play it tomorrow night. I’ll let you know once I hear something.

It’s raining and the tarp is on the field. The teams took BP in the cage. Derek Jeter was not pleased. Since this is a family blog (for the most part), we will not tell you what he said.

Chien-Ming Wang is cooling out at his locker with a car magazine. As usual, he’s the calmest guy in the room.

Yogi Berra pulled up a chair in front of Robinson Cano’s locker and talked baseball with he and Jose Molina. Yogi loves Cano because he’s a bad ball hitter. “Just like me,” he said.

Exclusive cell phone photo by Kevin Devaney Jr.

I can’t tell you whether the Yankees will be better on the field this season. But they will be healthier.

Much to the chagrin of some players who shall go unnamed (OK, Mike Mussina), Joe Girardi had the ice cream freezer taken out of the players lounge.

The candy has been banished as well. The only snacks left are healthy. It’s like these guys are finely tuned athletes or something.

Mussina jokingly said he planned to find the wayward freezer and install it in the empty locker next to his. “The candy will go on the top shelf,” he said. “I can’t play without some candy.”

Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, being children, also were distressed.

The good new for the beat writers is that whenever we need a scoop, we can bribe the players with M&Ms.

It’s overcast and 44 here at the Stadium. But not raining, at least.

It was strange pulling into the parking lot and seeing the new Stadium rising and hearing the sounds of construction. Makes you want to get a look at the old place and soak it all in before it’s gone.

Clubhouse opens in seven minutes. Meanwhile, a few little records for you:

The Yankees are 61-43-1 on Opening Day, 28-10 at the Stadium. They are 16-11 in presidential election years. When the Yankees win at home on Opening Day, the GOP is 4-1 in the election. When the Yankees lose, the Democrats are 3-0.

So we know who Obama and Hillary are rooting for.

It’s the final Opening Day at the Stadium and the Yankees have undergone some changes since we saw them last.

Brian Heyman was at yesterday’s workout. His notebook has news on Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter and Chien-Ming Wang.

Speaking of the Wanger, Happy Birthday. He’s 28.

Headed to the Stadium now. Check back later for updates.

Here is how the Yankees will line it up tomorrow (thanks to Brian Heyman for calling me with this):

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Matsui DH
Cabrera CF

So L-R-L-R-L-L-S-L-S. There’s some balance. I also like the idea of splitting up Giambi and Posada, who are both slow. It’s pretty frightening to see Matsui hitting eighth. … Andy Pettitte is now officially scheduled to pitch on Saturday. … Stunningly, Jeter said his right pinky (or pinkie) finger is fine.

As for the Jays, here is what John Gibbons had:

Eckstein SS
Stairs or Stewart LF
Rios RF
Wells CF
Thomas DH
Overbay 1B
Hill 2B
Scutaro 3B
Zaun C

So that completes the blogging for the day, barring something unexpected. Be here tomorrow for Opening Day and all manner of posts, interviews and other interweb excitement. I’ll be live-blogging the game as well.

This just in from the minor-league intrasquad game in Tampa:

Andy Pettitte: 6 1 0 0 1 6. He threw 77 pitches.

Ian Kennedy: 5 4 0 0 1 5. No word on the pitch count. But he was supposed toi be dialed back to 75 or so today.

“I threw 77 pitches, and that’s what I needed,” Pettitte said. “It’s exactly what I wanted to do. I feel great. Everything felt good today. Got a lot of work in. Did I have to get to 77 pitches today because I’m a little short and behind everybody? Yeah. I’m ready for my start and just looking forward to continuing to build my strength up.”