The Season In A Nutshell

Thanks for coming everybody; I think we have enough information.

Did you see the results of Opening Day? (The full day, not the Boston preview.) Here's what we learned:

1. Albert Pujols is the best hitter in the NL.

2. Jason Heyward is the NL Rookie of the Year.

3. Roy Halladay, Dan Haren, Johan Santana and Tim Lincecum will vie for the NL Cy Young.

4. The Phils are awesome.

5. Mark Buehrle wins the Gold Glove and the AL Cy Young.

6. Jorge Posada, Adam Lind, Vernon Wells and Kevin Youklis are really good hitters.

Beyond that, take a look at the game results:

Tigers beat Royals; Rangers beat Blue Jays; White Sox beat Indians; Angels beat Twins, Mariners beat A's; Cards beat Reds; Rockies beat Brewers; D'backs beat Padres; Giants beat Astros; Mets beat Marlins; Braves beat Cubs; Phillies crush Nats.

That's pretty much a plausible162-game schedule condensed to one game. Other than the Pirates' superiority over the Dodgers, the standing look exactly as we expect them to.

We think of baseball as a sport of tremendous variability that only reveals itself over an entire six-month season, a game in which a .230 hitter can knock four hits and a superstar can take the collar on any given day. But for Opening Day 2010, most everything went exactly according to the script.

Somehow I missed Nick Johnson going on the DL...

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