It's That Time Again

MLB Season Starts
Look, it's not my fault. I'm just drawn that way.
Just bring it on. I'll keep following this stuff until I die. It's just what it is.

Last Season In Yankee Stadium

I don't know what to say. Everything has started with a whimper this year. For a start, the Yankees-Blue Jays was rained out. The damn Red Sox got a head start into the season against the A's in Tokyo - which the split - and the Yankees are yet to play a game.

Here's an interesting page about Yankee opening days through history. This bit caught my eye:

1923 Yankees Starting Lineup: First Lineup in Yankee Stadium History
CF Whitey Witt
3B Joe Dugan
RF Babe Ruth
1B Wally Pipp
LF Bob Meusel
C Wally Schang
2B Aaron Ward
SS Everett Scott
P Bob Shawkey

2008 Yankees Starting Lineup: Last Lineup in Yankee Stadium History
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

Kind of amazing what has changed, and it's not just the DH thing. The guys in the original 1923 lineup are all white guys. The 2008 edtion is anything but:
There is a black guy (Jeter), a Venezuelan (Abreu), a Puerto Rican (Posada), some Dominicans (Cano, Cabrera, and a bit of A-Rod), a guy from Japan (Matsui), and a half-Thai dude (Damon); plus there's the Panamanian Mariano Rivera and the Winabago tribe's own Joba Chamberlain in the bullpen.
They're pretty United Nations today, giving lie to their moniker the Yankees.
The other thing that caught my eye was this list:

Most Opening Day Starts by Position
P Ron Guidry (7),Whitey Ford (7), Mel Stottlemyre (7)
C Bill Dickey (15)
1B Lou Gehrig (14)
2B Willie Randolph (13)
SS Derek Jeter (11), Phil Rizzuto (11)
3B Graig Nettles (11)
LF Roy White (9)
CF Mickey Mantle (13)
RF Hank Bauer (8)
DH Don Baylor (3), Ruben Sierra (3)

That Hank Bauer played more opening games in RF than Babe Ruth surprised me. Weirder still I've seen a whole bunch of these guys play. It's easier to count those I didn't: Ford, Sottlemyre, Dickey, Gehrig, Rizzuto, Mantle, Bauer. Boy, I'm gettin' old.