The LoHud Yankees Blog

That’s what Joe Girardi had to say. He didn’t seem overly concerned with the events of the day. CC Sabathia could not command his fastball and as a result he gave up six runs. Over the course of the season, that’s going to happen four or five times.

In terms of specifics …

Mark Teixeira said he was expecting the boos. But they were particularly loud today. That the local hero turned down his hometown team doesn’t sit well with the Baltimoreans. But why in the world would he have signed here in the first place?

Xavier Nady was waved around third by Rob Thomson, who thought that ball in the sixth inning was getting through. By the time he put up the stop sign, Nady had his head down and was running.

The Yankees left 11 runners on base, at least one in every inning. “It seemed like there were a bunch of times we were about to take the lead,” Johnny Damon said.

Nice start for Brett Gardner, who was 1 for 3 with a sacrifice and threw a runner out at the plate. Ramiro Pena made his debut and Nick Swisher came off the bench with a double. Hideki Matsui ripped one and Jorge Posada was on base three times and caught nine innings.

It’ll get better. It can’t get much worse than today.

Thanks to everybody for reading today and sorry for the occasional technical issues. Lots of traffic today as you might expect.

YANKEES (0-0)
2. Derek Sanderson Jeter SS
18. Johnny David Damon LF
25. Mark Charles Teixeira 1B
55. Hideki Matsui DH
20. Jorge Rafael de Posada Jr. C
24. Robinson Jose Cano 2B
22. Xavier Clifford Nady III RF
12. Bryan Cody Ransom 3B
11. Brett Michael Gardner CF
Pitching: 52. Carsten Charles Sabathia LHP

ORIOLES (0-0)
1. Brian Roberts 2B
10. Adam Jones CF
21. Nick Markakis RF
6. Melvin Mora 3B
17. Aubrey Huff 1B
23. Ty Wigginton DH
30. Luke Scott LF
9. Gregg Zaun C
3. Cesar Izturis SS
Pitching: 46. Jeremy Guthrie RHP

CC Sabathia (17-10, 2.70 in 2008) vs. the Baltimore hitters.

Jeremy Guthrie (10-12, 3.63) vs. the New York hitters.

FOR OPENERS: The Yankees are 62-43-1 on Opening Day; 28-29 on the road.

SPRING SUCCESS: The Yankees were 24-10-1 in spring training. The finished with nine straight wins and win in 18 of their last 20 games.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME: The Yankees are 56-30 at Camden Yards over the last 10 seasons, 16-6 the last three.

BALTIMORE CHOP: The Yankees have won seven straight against Baltimore.

CC YOU ON THE FIRST DAY: This is the sixth Opening Day assignment for CC Sabathia. He is 1-0, 4.23 in the first five.

ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER ACE: Sabathia is the sixth Opening Day starter in the last seven years for the Yankees. The list:

2009: Sabathia
2008: Wang
2007: Pavano (yes, really)
2006: Johnson
2005: Johnson
2004: Mussina
2003: Clemens

HOT SIX MONTHS AGO: Cano is riding an 11-game hit streak. Gardner has a 10-game streak going.

Back with much more later.

UPDATE, 1:55 p.m.: It has stopped raining here.

UPDATE, 2:13 p.m.: The fans don’t love Tex here:

UPDATE, 2:15 p.m.: I recorded a video post before the game

Go here to see it.

UPDATE, 2:17 p.m.: Now the sun is coming out and they’re taking the tarp off the field. Good deal.

UPDATE, 2:32 p.m.: Girardi just said A-Rod will report to Tampa on Monday to start baseball activities.

UPDATE, 2:46 p.m.: Now it’s sunny with blue skies. Play ball.

UPDATE, 3:07 p.m.: Hmm, now they’re putting the tarp back down. That can’t be good. i give up trying to predict what will happen. But I will keep you posted.

UPDATE, 3:14 p.m.: Now I know why they put the tarp down. It’s raining.

UPDATE, 3:48 p.m.: Tarp up, ceremony about to start. Looks like we will have some baseball.

UPDATE, 3:51 p.m.: CC just made a slow walk out to the bullpen. I was watching him before the game. Some starters like to keep to themselves on game day but he was walking around the clubhouse, talking to different people and seemed pretty loose.

UPDATE, 3:58 p.m.: Introducing the lineups now. Teixeira got booed like he was John Wilkes Booth. People cheered Mo. Everybody loves Mo.

It’s funny being at Camden Yards when there are so many Orioles fans. Usually when the Yankees are here it’s full of Yankee fans.

UPDATE, 3:59 p.m.: The Orioles will walk down a balloon decorated orange runway from center field. Pretty funny. It looks like a bad high school prom.

UPDATE, 4:14 p.m.: Smoky Joe Biden just threw out the first pitch. We’re about to get underway.

UPDATE, 4:25 p.m.: We are underway. Enjoy the 2009 season everybody.

UPDATE, 4:28 p.m.: Jeter singled up the middle on the eighth pitch of the at-bat.

UPDATE, 4:29 p.m.: Tex really got booed then popped up a 2-0 pitch.

UPDATE, 4:31 p.m.: No wonder the Baltimore fans are so bitter. They just showed a highlight video of their offseason pickups. Felix Pie! Mark Hendrickson! Gregg Zaun! Koji Uehara! Cesar Izturis!

UPDATE, 4:34 p.m.: CC Sabathia missed outside and then allowed a sharp single up the middle. $161 million doesn’t buy what it used to.

UPDATE, 4:35 p.m.: Um … he walked Jones on four pitches.

UPDATE, 4:44 p.m.: Another wild pitch. CC and Jorge seem to have trouble getting on the same page. Posada has made two trips to the mound. Runners on second and third and one put.

Now Mora grounds to third and Ransom throws Roberts out at the plate.

UPDATE, 4:46 p.m.: CC squirms out of trouble.

UPDATE, 5:02 p.m.: Both Guthrie and CC had easy second innings. Still no score.

UPDATE, 5:05 p.m.: Gritty and gutty, Brett Gardner singles to lead off the third, driving a 2-2 pitch to left. Now he has to steal second to avoid the Jeter GIDP.

UPDATE, 5:07 p.m.: Jeter grounds to short … But Girardi had GGBG moving and the shortstop went to cover second. Gardner to third and the Yankees are in business.

UPDATE, 5:08 p.m.: Now there is some dumb baseball. Damon flies to left. Luke Scott lines up the ball and could have made a strong throw home. But instead Adam Jones pulls a Kelly Leak and cuts him off. As his momentum carried him to the side, Gardner scored without a throw.

1-0 Yankees. Tex just grounded feebly back to the pitcher as the whole place booed him. Man, they really hate the local product.

UPDATE, 5:21 p.m.: CC is just not pitching well. Isturis singled on a 3-1 pitch. Roberts walked. Then Jones drilled a two-run triple to the gap in right before Markakis delivered a sac fly. 3-1 O’s.

CC appears to have lousy fastball command.

UPDATE, 5:30 p.m.: Turned out to be a nice day here. Shadows on the field now. Guthrie is closing in on 60 pitches here in the fourth inning. After a rocky spring training, he has pitched well today.

UPDATE, 5:39 p.m.: This is why they need a long man. Gregg Zaun drills one here and what then? Wear out Phil Coke?

CC’s line so far: 3+ 4 3 3 3 3 0.

No strikeouts?

UPDATE, 5:52 p.m.: Damon tripled and Tex walked with two outs in the fifth inning. But Matsui fouled out. Yankees have left six on base in five innings, two in scoring position.

UPDATE, 5:56 p.m.: Action in the Yankees’ pen as CC allows a leadoff double by Roberts. Meanwhile a group of Yankees fans in front of the press box are getting liquored up and swearing at each other. It mystifies me why somebody would pay so much to get into a game and then get plastered.

UPDATE, 6:06 p.m.: Nice scoring in Baltimore. Ransom drops a ball out of his glove and they give Mora a hit.

CC should be out of the game. It’s 5-1, he has nothing and he’s at 93 pitches. Bases loaded and one out. Just a brutal start for him.

UPDATE, 6:11 p.m.: They intentionally walked Wigginton to load the bases with one out. CC got ahead of Luke Scott 0-2 then walked him. Now he’s out. Just a disaster for his first game as a Yankee.

UPDATE, 6:16 p.m.: At least there’s Brett Gardner. He just caught a fly ball and gunned down Mora at the plate. But the Yankees trail 6-1.

UPDATE, 6:22 p.m.: The final line for CC: 4.1 8 6 6 5 0. 2 wild pitches, 96 pitches / 50 strikes. Yeesh.

Meanwhile, Posasa homered, Cano walked and Nady doubled him in. Yankees trail 6-3.

UPDATE, 6:29 p.m.: Sabathia’s last start without a strikeout was July 25, 2005 at Oakland. He lasted 2.1 innings that day, allowing eight runs.

UPDATE, 6:35 p.m.: Jeter is 3 for 3. Not sure what happened on that play with Nady but he went around third too far and got caught off the bag. Once again, troubles with base-running hurt the Yankees.

Teams lose. But that they’re playing so poorly is a surprise.

UPDATE, 6;50 p.m.: Godzilla drills one after a Damon single. Now they trail 6-5. The Yankees own Chris Ray as I recall. Need to look that up.

UPDATE, 6:57 p.m.: I knew it. 16 games, 16 innings, 15 hits, 9 ER coming into today. Ray isn’t quite Arthur Rhodes but he’s close.

Yankees win this game?

UPDATE, 7:14 p.m.: Swisher hits for Ransom and doubles. Pena runs for him. Nice job by Swish. Yankees in business again.

You have Gardner bunt?

UPDATE, 7:16 p.m.: Yes, you do. Runner on third, one out for the captain. Will he tie it up? I would say so, he’s Derek Jeter.

UPDATE, 7:17 p.m.: Not that time he wasn’t as he grounds to third. Up to Damon.

UPDATE, 7:20 p.m.: What a moment, Tex up with runners on the corners and two outs. They’ve been booing him like he’s Robert Irsay all day. He’s love to make them all eat it now.

UPDATE, 7:21 p.m.: Grounds into a force. 0 for 4 with a walk in his Yankee debut. Bad day for the newcomers.

UPDATE, 7:29 p.m.: Zaun doubles and Izturis homers. Now it’s 8-5 and that should be that for the Yankees. Poor start to the season but it’s one game. That the won’t go 162-0 will send the usual suspects into a panic, I’m sure.

UPDATE, 7:42 p.m.: Bruney is back to trying to throw the ball through a wall every time. Not sure why. His entire spring has been that way, more or less. What a workout Posada is getting today. Three wild pitches, now a fourth relief pitcher. Just a big mess.

UPDATE, 7:46 p.m.: I would not trust Damaso Marte in a big spot ever. He got three years?

10 runs on 14 hits, 7 walks and three wild pitches. Brutal.

UPDATE, 7:49 p.m.: Got to get down to the clubhouse, Back with some more later on.

Vote over to the right.

Based on looking out my hotel room window, it’s raining lightly in Baltimore. Some people have umbrellas, some do not.

First pitch isn’t for 4.5 hours, so there’s plenty of time for it to clear up. We’ll keep you posted.

This release from the Orioles:

Vice President of the United States JOE BIDEN will throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to today’s Opening Day game. The Orioles will play the New York Yankees at 4:05 p.m., with pre-game ceremonies scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.

Born in Scranton, PA, Biden moved to Delaware at a young age and at 29 became one of the youngest people ever elected to the United States Senate. Prior to his election as Vice President of the United States, Biden spent 36 years representing Delaware in the Senate, including 17 years as Chairman or Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and 11 years as Chairman or Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Biden will be the first sitting Vice President ever to throw out a ceremonial first pitch at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

You can figure out the payroll of a baseball team any way you want. There’s the 40-man roster, the 25-man roster, you can add signing bonuses, other benefits, etc.

Here’s how I’m doing it: The salaries for the 25-man roster plus any players on the disabled list. I also added in any bonus payments being paid this year. By that method, I have the Yankees with a payroll of $206,880,950 for this season.

It breaks down like this:

Alex Rodriguez: $33 million
CC Sabathia: $23 million
Mark Teixeira: $20.6 million
Derek Jeter: $20 million
A.J. Burnett: $16.5 million
Mariano Rivera: $15 million
Jorge Posada: 13.1 million
Johnny Damon: $13 million
Hideki Matsui: 13 million
Xavier Nady: $6.55 million
Robinson Cano: $6 million
Andy Pettitte: $5.5 million
Nick Swisher: $5.3 million
Chien-Ming Wang: $5 million
Damaso Marte: $3.75 million
Jose Molina; $2 million
Melky Cabrera: $1.4 million
Brian Bruney: $1.25 million
Cody Ransom: $455,100
Jose Veras: $432,975
Joba Chamberlain: $432,575
Edwar Ramirez: $422,500
Brett Gardner: $414,000
Phil Coke: $403,300
Jonathan Albaladejo: $403,075
Ramiro Pena: $400,000

You could add in the Major League contracts of Kei Igawa ($4 million), Andrew Brackman ($1.137,500) and Juan Miranda ($400,000). That would make it $212,418,450.

The pressure is on the Yankees and Joe Girardi but he has handled it well so far.

CC Sabathia is a little nervous but that’s good, he said. This notebook also has updates on Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Ramiro Pena and Joba Chamberlain.

Here are some predictions for the coming season.

The season is upon us, so now seems seems like a good time to ask how you think the Yankees will do.

Vote in the poll over to the right.

Last year at this time, I predicted the Yankees would not make the playoffs. The lack of pitching depth and the transition to a new manager seemed like to much to overcome. Given all the injuries, it was remarkable they won as many games as they did.

This year? I like the Yankees getting to the World Series and beating the team they just played, the Chicago Cubs. Here is why:

Pitching: In CC Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte and Joba Chaberlain, the Yankees can send a quality starter to the mound every day. Meanwhile Phil Hughes is waiting in Scranton along with the capable Alfredo Aceves.

Defense: Swapping Mark Teixeira for Jason Giambi and Xavier Nady for Bobby Abreu will make the right side of the diamond far less of a black hole than it was. Robinson Cano also appears to have overcome the lethargy he played with for much of last season. Having Brett Gardner in center also will improve the defense. The Yankees are far from a good defensive team, but they are much better than they were.

Offense: The Yankees will miss Giambi and Abreu here. But having a healthy Jorge Posada, a relatively healthy Hideki Matsui and Teixeira should overcome that. Nady and Johnny Damon will be motivated by their walk years. It’s hard to gauge what Alex Rodriguez will do given his injury, the drug questions and his turbulent personal life. But he could well have a huge year.

The manager: Joe Girardi first season was rocky, which was to be expected. He is far more relaxed this season and it helps that five key newcomers — Sabathia, Burnett, Teixeira, Gardner and Nick Swisher — have no ties to Joe Torre. The more the roster turns over, the easier it becomes for Girardi to put his imprint on it.

Depth: The Yankees had a variety of useless players on the bench last season. Now, instead of Morgan Ensberg, Wilson Betemit and the like, they’ll have Swisher, Meky Cabrera and an actual good glove in Ramiro Pena. Girardi has options now.

The schedule: The AL East is a bear. The Yankees, Red Sox and Rays are arguably the three best teams in the game. If the Yankees survive that, they’ll a tough out in the playoffs. The rest of the AL is not very imposing with the Angels a lesser team than in recent years and the AL Central a jumble.

Prediction: 98-64, first place in AL East.

As for the rest of baseball:

AL East
Yankees
Red Sox
Rays
Orioles
Jays

AL Central
Indians
Royals
Twins
White Sox
Tigers

AL West
Angels
Athletics
Rangers
Mariners

Division Series
Yankees over Indians
Red Sox over Angels

ALCS
Yankees over Red Sox

NL East
Phillies
Mets
Braves
Marlins
Nationals

NL Central
Cubs
Brewers
Cardinals
Reds
Astros
Pirates

NL West
Dodgers
Diamondbacks
Giants
Rockies
Padres

Division series
Phillies over Dodgers
Cubs over Mets

NLCS
Cubs over Phillies

World Series
Yankees over Cubs

Awards
AL MVP: Mark Teixeira, Yankees
AL Cy Young: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox
AL Rookie of the Year: Elvis Andrus, Rangers
AL Manager of the Year: Trey Hillman, Royals

NL MVP: Alfonso Soriano, Cubs
NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks
NL Rookie of the Year: Stephen Strasberg, Nationals
NL Manager of the Year: Lou Piniella Cubs

Being a total baseball nerd, I like walking around ballparks and looking at the statues outside. Willie Mays (AT&T Park), Stan Musial (Busch Stadium), Roberto Clemente (PNC Park) are among the best ones.

Camden Yards has a young Babe Ruth standing outside of center field. The Babe, as any good fan knows, was born here in the Charm City before becoming the Sultan of Swat.

I snapped a photo of the statue in the twilight and the plaque attached to its base:

Ideally, the Yankees will erect some statues at their new ballpark. That big plaza along 161st Street would be a perfect setting. Imagine being able to tell your friends, “meet me at Mickey Mantle.”

It would be tough to pick out three or four Yankees to commemorate with statues. I’d say Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mantle.

Who would you want to see?

Anyway, this marks the last post of spring training. Come back tomorrow for lots of Opening Day coverage.

I don’t know that this is official, but the Charleston RiverDogs list this roster on their web site.

Check out the pitching staff. They have D.J. Mitchell, Manny Banuelos, Brett Marshall and Andrew Brackman. The Yankees like the work Torre Tyson does in Charleston as manager.

It doesn’t look like any of the other minor league teams have set their rosters yet, or at least they haven’t been announced.