Opening Day is finally here and we get to see the Houston Astros new uniforms in the grand ESPN HD. I really can barely contain my excitement over the fact that there is real baseball to the point where I’m having a hard time typing. I say we honor the occasion with a live blog and call it a day:
7:52 PM: New Astros Manager Bo Porter was just introduced and ran out with smoke billowing from the dugout. There appeared to be an audible golf clap.
7:54 PM: The pot roast has been in the oven for 34 minutes now and it looks really tasty. It’s the blog’s second attempt at a pot roast and we were feeling promiscuous and went without a recipe.
7:57: My excitement for the pot roast may have just passed my excitement for the game as it’s now been 4 minutes since Ronnie Cedeno was announced as an Opening Day starter for the Long Island Ducks Houston Astros.
7:58: JJ Watt is enourmous. 6’6″ and 290lbs? Wow. Not the best throwing arm though.
8:03: The Welcome Back to Baseball montage is great. I’m so pumped this is back.
8:04: The pot roast is looking great and smelling better, it needs like 15 more minutes.
8:05: John Kruk is in the booth this season for Sunday nights. Ok, I can dig it. Let’s see how he does tonight.
8:05: The Astros’ finally make the move to the AL and they’re doing it with a splash, according to Buster Olney there are 23 players making more than the entire roster.
8:07: Bud Norris was 4-1 at home last season, that’s remarkable considering that was like 40% of the ‘Stros total wins from 2012.
8:07: Berkman is hitting 3rd for Texas. That doesn’t portend well and seems to indicate the Rangers’ lack of power without Hamilton. Also, Daniel Murphy is hitting 5th. Bleh
8:08: Kinlser steps in and we’re ready to go on the 2013 season!
8:08: Kinsler flies to right. The Rangers’ leadoff hitter hit .256 last season? I think that the Rangers might be a little worse than we thought. Still way better than the Astros though.
8:09: Bud Norris shows off a great slider prompting Orel Hershiser to muse that Norris is a 2 pitch pitcher. Always what you want to hear about your best starter.
8:11: Norris blows a fastball by Elvis Andrus. 2 out. Nice pitch on the inner half. Berkman coming to bat now to a chorus of boos.
8:12: According to John Kruk, where a veteran player plays isn’t his choice. Wasn’t free agency started in the 1970s?
8:12: My God!!! Ronnie Cedeno just made a play!!! As of right now, he’s the best shortstop in baseball. I blame terrorists.
8:15: ESPN is showing the Astros’ lineup. Look Away!!
8:16: “A guy they are expecting big things from is Chris Carter.” No. Not the wide receiver.
8:17: Bo Porter goes out there and talks to an umpire in his first inning. I really like him. Jose Altuve was safe, but called out by umpires.
8:19 Matt Harrison strikes out the next two. Looks like an Opening Day starter…. I wish the Braves still had him.
TIME OUT while we eat our dinner
Time In… highlights from our break: The Astros motto for the year is “Ignore the noise.” I decided that John Kruk is probably the most fun guy in the world to watch a baseball game and drink 8 beers with.
8:37: I like Jim Crane’s shirt.
8:42: Stat of the Day: I read two separate pieces today claiming that Jason Castro would be the breakout player to take the Majors by storm this year. He just struck out.
8:49: Orel Hershherohsdfhg-er just made a really good point about Clayton Kershaw’s health. He thinks that if he’s really, really healthy, there will be an announcement on a contract extension tomorrow.
8:50: Kruk wonders aloud why Kershaw refuses to talk about his contract during the season when he pitches just once every 5 days.
TIME OUT while I install Mountain Lion on my MacBook.
TIME IN…. Mountain Lion took about an hour to install on my laptop despite the fact that it initially said 18 minutes. It’s now 2:08 PM and the blog is hardcore watching the Yankees/Red Sox. Ari’s working on a full live post, and Max just completed the Yankees Season Preview.
2:09: The Astros won last night 8-2 behind strong pitching and a pinch hit home run from Rick Ankiel off of Derek Lowe. I immediately got a phone call from my drunk friend explaining how happy he was that Lowe was no longer on the Braves. I couldn’t agree more.
2:11: D-Lowe is still bad.
2:12: Bryce Harper has two bolts and Strasburg has given up one hit through five. Harper looks like the MVP candidate that he did in Spring Training and that’s scary. Terrible haircut though.
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