Many surprises and accomplishments took place on Opening Day around the Major Leagues. Rick Ankiel beats Randy Johnson in Ankiel’s first regular season start since last year’s playoff throwing debacle, walking only three in five-plus innings. We saw the opening of Milwaukee’s new stadium, Miller Park, where the Brewers are now 3-0. And nobody will forget Hideo Nomo’s no-no in his first start in a Red Sox uniform. Here are this week’s major stories:
The Boston Red Sox have a problem scoring when their best pitcher is on the mound. But how? Even though two-time batting champion Nomar Garciappara was under the knife, Carl Everett and Manny Ramirez still lead a potent lineup that is unable to score with baseball’s best pitcher, Pedro Martinez, on the hill. Opening day in Baltimore was no exception. The Sox charged into Baltimore with a 13-2 record in spring training during the final two weeks looking for a win to begin their season. Facing a weak Baltimore pitching staff might have allowed Ramirez and Everett to break out early. But the Pedro Martinez effect dominated once again as the Red Sox could only manage four hits and one run off of Pat Hentgen, whose Cy Young days are a distant memory. The Red Sox eventually lost 2-1 to the worst team Baltimore has fielded in over ten years. What is even more amazing than Martinez’s run support being somewhere in the twos for the last few seasons is that the Sox are still somehow 47-13 when he is on the hill and 132-132 when he is riding the pine. This further solidifies him as the dominant pitcher of our age.
The Asian contingent of Major League Baseball has made its presence felt over the first week of the season. Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki and Kazuhiro Sasaki have already taken major roles in early-season victories for their respective teams. Sasaki, playing for the Seattle Mariners, has proven himself as one of the best closers in the league. He had the save in a big win over the Oakland Athletics, heavy favorites to win in the American League West. Suzuki, who chooses to wear Ichiro on his jersey rather than his last name, had two huge hits in the opener against the Oakland A’s to endear himself to the Seattle fans. On Friday night, Ichiro hit a game-winning home run against the Texas Rangers, replacing the M’s fans’ visions of A-Rod. Suzuki and Sasaki will both play major roles in keeping the Mariners close in AL West. Hideo Nomo’s performance on Thursday night in Baltimore speaks for itself. Nomo became only the fourth player in ML history to throw a no-hitter in both leagues. Nomo had not thrown a complete game shutout since his last no-no, a 1996 no-hitter of the Colorado Rockies.
The 2000 Houston Astros were supposed to storm in the playoffs with a chance to bring the crown to Texas for the first time ever. But something went terribly wrong in Houston, as the shedding of the Astrodome turned out to be a curse. The Astros lost the division in April and May, and were giving up home runs at a spectacular rate. The Astros have gone into this season without nearly as much pressure, thriving early. The Astros are dominating the NL Central, especially with the early woes of the Cardinals. Chris Truby and Richard Hidalgo have hit home runs at a frantic pace, while the lackluster pitching staff is performing very well, keeping the Astros in games. If they can keep their ERA under 5.00, the big bats of Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Daryle Ward, Lance Berkman, Truby and Hidalgo should be enough for the Astros to become a dominant force in the National League Central once again.

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