So, of course, one of the biggest stories of the day was Johann Santana, and his debut as a Met.  As Ben Shpigel writes, yesterday was not only Santana’s beginning as a Met, it was the Mets day to wipe away their historic collapse of last season, and what better way to do it then to bring the best pitcher in the game, newly acquired, to the house of the team that took such joy in causing the collapse last fall.  What was beautiful is that Santana came and conquered and wiped away, at least for one day, all the anxiety the Mets felt.  He scared away the black cat, and brought belief back into the life of a Mets fan.  We will have to see what happens over the next 161 games, there is still a lot of baseball left, but Santana’s start yesterday has allowed a lot of Mets fans to believe that their team is the team they thought it was.  Going to be a interesting ride in the NL East, methinks.

Meanwhile, on the other coast, the opposite fate for a team expected to lose a lot of game became apparent.  Any hope that the San Francisco Giants might not lose 100 game disappeared with, as Gwen Knapp writes the Dodgers first batter connected with a Barry Zito pitch.  Now, I don’t really think the Giants will lose 100, though in the division that they are in, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised, but that must be how it felt if you were a Giants fan at Dodger Stadium yesterday.

Another “big acquisition” of the off-season was the move that brought Erik Bedard to the Mariners.  The coverage of opening day in Seattle is amusing to read, and all over the map, and one might wonder if the four reporters that the Seattle PI  sent to the game were covering the same game, but I think Art Thiel gives you a sense of really how Erik Bedard did, versus the expectations that were thrust upon him.  M’s fans must have been miserable there yesterday, since hail even appeared to those in the outfield seat not covered by the roof. (SAFECO’s rood is really more of a rolling scaffold which slides in place to cover the field and most seats.  The walls do not rise to meet it on all sides.) But Bedard built on a rocky beginning and ended up pitching well enough to get the win.  And the M’s fans hope that that becomes a habit worth keeping. As Mets fans will tell you, Mariners fans, Ya Gotta Believe. Sometimes its hard, but its always worth it.

With April arriving, and opening day really coming and going, we leave spring training and that portion of the blog behind.  I normally, start the new month fresh, but as yesterday included the predictions, I thought it might make sense to keep them with April.  Didn’t think April would get here, and before we know it, it will be July.