Yesterday’s Opening Day was postponed until today, 7:05 PM ET.

Lineup:
LF Johnny Damon
SS Derek Jeter
RF Bobby Abreu
3B Alex Rodriguez
1B Jason Giambi
2B Robinson Cano
C Jorge Posada
DH Hideki Matsui
CF Melky Cabrera

Bench
C Jose Molina
INF Wilson Betemit
1B-RF Shelley Duncan
3B-1B Morgan Ensbeg

Rotation
SP Chien-Ming Wang
SP Andy Pettitte*
SP Mike Mussina
SP Phil Hughes
SP Ian Kennedy

Bullpen
CL Mariano Rivera (R)
SU Joba Chamberlain (R)
MR LaTroy Hawkins (R)
MR Kyle Farnsworth (R)
MR Ross Ohlendof (R)
MR Brian Bruney (R)
MR Billy Traber (L)
MR Jon Albaladejo (R)

*DL
60-Day DL: Andrew Brackman, Humberto Sanchez, Carl Pavano
15-Day DL: Pettitte, Sean Henn, Jeff Karstens
Pretty similar to the roster I predicted. I was surprised and disappointed that Scott Patterson didn’t make the team, but hopefully it was for the best, as Albaladejo make the team to fill garbage innings and only as an 8th reliever while Pettitte is down. Next up: season predictions.

When Opening Day Rosters are announced, I will predict the standings for the American League, with a note under each team explaining my choice for that record, and a potential sleeper team in that division. I’ll start off with the AL West, and move eastward, unlike John Soule’s suggestion.

A few pieces of news to pass along for your morning pleasure:

• The Red Sox have won the MLB Opener, 6-4, against the Oakland A’s. Huston Street blew the save and then took the loss, first giving up a home run to Brandon Moss (starting in place of the injured J.D. Drew) and then allowing the eventual game-winning hit to Manny Ramirez. The A’s had a shot to win the game in the bottom of the tenth, but Emil Brown made a bonehead play trying to take an extra base on his RBI double to bring in Daric Barton. Daisuke Matsuzaka went 5 innings, allowing 2H, 2ER, 5BB (yikes), and 6K’s. Joe Blanton started for the A’s, and allowed 7H, 3ER, 1BB, and 3K’s in 5.1IP. W-Hideki Okajima (1-0) L-Huston Street (0-1) S-Jon Papelbon (1)
• Kevin Goldstein actually wrote a legitimate prospect piece over at Baseball Prospectus, and here he covers the prospects of the AL East teams.

So this is what the American Pastime is all about, eh? Waking up at 3 a.m. Pacific time to see the first official games of the Major League season? Call me a selfish baseball fan, but this still does not really mark the beginning of the season.

Daisuke Matsuzaka and Joe Blanton will throw their first pitches of 2008 in less than an hour (it’s 2 a.m. here in California), but I will be fast asleep. See I originally planned to take Tuesday off to watch the Sox-A’s game live from Japan, but decided against it when my boss began got upset last week about the vacation schedule. I instead decided that my annual personal holiday would come on March 31, the REAL Opening Day.

For nearly each of the last 15 years I have made it a point to take the day off school or work to celebrate Opening Day. Why? Because Opening Day is the culmination of all the thoughts and feelings that have welled up in my head over the last five months. It means no more anticipation. No more projecting what my fantasy squads will look like on the first day of the season. No more day dreaming while cutting my lawn, thinking of the grassy fields that will soon be filled with activity. No more. Because it will all be here.

But it cannot be here if it comes at 3 a.m. (6 a.m. ET) and I am not awake to see it. And it certainly cannot come at 5 p.m. (8 ET) on a Sunday when the Atlanta Braves travel to Washington, D.C. to play the Nationals in a pseudo exhibition game that Major League Baseball has decided to make its Prime Time season opener. (Yes, the stats will count for your fantasy leagues.)

All of these shenanigans that MLB has concocted to boost ratings, showcase the game to other cultures, or show off a new stadium for a franchise that once was run by the league itself do not do the game justice. Opening Day is an event, one that shall be celebrated by fans world wide — all at the same time.

Fans should be out at the ball parks, in their living rooms or sitting next to a radio. They should be clad in their team colors hoping their squads can win the first game of the season so even the followers of the sorriest club (read: San Francisco Giants) can look at another person and say, “Hey, we’ve got a share of first place.”

But no. Instead the majority of the country will have awoken today and missed an entire game. The first game. The game they, we, you, and I have been waiting for for five months. And we’ll again be asked to suffer another night’s wait when Atlanta and Washington square off on Sunday.
The stats will count. The wins and losses will count. And the income certainly will count.

But for me, things don’t start to count until Monday. That is when America celebrates this game together.

Note: In case you’re interested, I will be doing a live Opening Day blog on TheBaseballStars.com on March 31.

Here’s my first crack at projecting the Opening Day roster. Note that there will be a long reliever and likely a lefty in the bullpen.

Lineup
LF Johnny Damon
SS Derek Jeter
RF Bobby Abreu
3B Alex Rodriguez
1B Jason Giambi
DH Hideki Matsui
C Jorge Posada
2B Robinson Cano
CF Melky Cabrera

I think the lineup should have Cano batting 5th and Matsui 8th, but I just don’t see Girardi doing that.

Bench
INF Wilson Betemit
3B/1B Morgan Ensberg
1B/OF Shelley Duncan
C Jose Molina

While the Yankees would love a speedy pinch runner and/or a true utility infielder, Betemit and Ensberg are versatile enough and hit too well for them to carry Bernie Castro or Nick Green.

Rotation
SP1 Chien-Ming Wang
SP2 Andy Pettitte
SP3 Mike Mussina
SP4 Ian Kennedy
SP5 Phil Hughes

Note that I am determining this based on innings, as the first two pitchers will pitch over 200 innings, with the last three slots pieced together based on innings caps and an aging veteran.

Bullpen
LR Darrell Rasner
MR LaTroy Hawkins
MR Kyle Farnsworth
MR Billy Traber
MR Scott Patterson
SU Joba Chamberlain
CL Mariano Rivera

Girardi will likely take a lefty, as it is his preference and Traber has done a solid job. Patterson’s spring performance will win him the last bullpen spot, and Ross Ohlendorf will continue his bullpen seasoning in AAA S/W-B. I’ve been predicting that LaTroy Hawkins’s 63% groundball rate won’t hold up and he’ll be out by mid-summer, and I’m maintaining that.

This is a solid roster. Some things will no doubt have changed by the end of the year (Hawkins, Farnsworth, Damon traded? Joba to rotation?). Prospects will be called up, disappointments will be DFA’d. This team has its share of broken-down, aging veterans (Damon, Matsui, Giambi, with Abreu, Posada, and Jeter soon to follow) who may not last the full season. There will be growing pains with the Big 3. The bullpen is full of question marks who can well be busts.

This is not to say there aren’t players on the rise. Robinson Cano is a rising star and the second-best 2B in the league. While comparisons to Carlos Beltran and Bernie Williams are silly at this point, Melky Cabrera will be (at least) a league-average CF. The Big 3 will have its moments to shine, and Wang, only 27, will get it done with his hard sinker.

The offense is no longer a 1,000 run offense. The pitching is somewhat suspect, and there are a fair amount of questions on this team. Regardless, I see that the Yankees still have enough to scrape a 92-70 record because there still is talent. However, they will barely miss the playoffs.

Yesterday, Joe Girardi named Chien-Ming Wang as the starter on Opening Day. This was essentially known for weeks–his Spring Training assignments have been on track with Opening Day, and he merited the start anyway. At least it’s not Carl Pavano this year.

• Andy Pettitte and Robinson Cano were scratched from today’s game with back issues. Jon Alabadejo started and punched his ticket to Scranton, allowing 6 ER in 1/3 IP. However, the game was canceled after an inning and a half due to rain.

Stubs4sale.com plans on visiting 5 MLB ballparks in the 2008 season.  Comerica Park (Detroit, Michigan), Wrigley Field (Chicago, Illinois), Comiskey Park (Chicago, Illinois),  Busch Stadium (St. Louis, Missouri), and Miller Park (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) are all targets for our road trips this year.  Let us know your ticket stub needs as the season progresses and exciting events start happening!