The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

Sinickal beat me to the punch on my opening day thoughts, but I still feel mine need to be reduced to the written word for memorializing. Sinickal wrote about his beloved Cubbies and his hometown Braves (for now at least). Myself, I think I need to comment on Sinickal's beloved Cubbies, and my beloved and hometown Marlins.

For the Cubbies, change seems to be on the horizon. Oh, several normal ailments exist in Cubland:

1. Big Z, Carlos Zambrano being taken off the field with an injury while throwing an absolute gem;

2. At least one fan has already uttered, "Wait 'til next year;

3. The bullpen collapsing with Kerry Wood doing his best Ryan Dempster impersonation; and

4. Cubs fans worrying about what Kerry Wood has left.

However, the Cubs have been afflicted with a much more serious ailment than these. They have caught FUKUDOME FEVER. Cubs right fielder Kosuke Fukudome (whose jersey I will be purchasing post haste), had a tremendous game, finishing 3 for 3, with a walk, 1 run scored, 3 RBIs and a home run in the 9th inning off Brewers reliever Eric Gagne. On top of all that, he had a double off Ben Sheets, and threw out 4 runners on the base paths. (OK, I made that last part up). But Cubs fans, be careful, if left untreated Fukudome Fever can lead to an even more dangerous disease, Optimism. The more things change, indeed.

With regard to my Marlins (and yes they might as well be mine, nobody else likes them), I could not attend in person because I am now in the middle of changing jobs, but I listened to the broadcast in the office. What was the most astonishing fact from this game? It wasn't that Johan Santana absolutely hammered the fish, as that was to be expected. Nor was it that 35,308 people attended the game, since they were all New Yorkers anyway. Could it be that the Marlins payroll is $21 million dollars, $7 million less than A-Rod is scheduled to make this year? No. The most astonishing fact is that Luis Gonzalez, the Marlins starting right fielder with Jeremy Hermida on the DL, has played in 479 more games than the rest of the Florida Marlins starters, combined. That is absolutely ridiculous. It just goes to show that there are lots of kids on this team who nobody knows, and it is going to be a really long year. The more things stay the same.