Recapping the first week of Major League Baseball

By Michael Lanning

9:55 p.m. April 7 2008

The 2008 version of the Major League Baseball season is now one week old. Here are some brief notes to catch you up on what’s happened, in case you were a little too busy checking your NCAA tournament bracket.

Three Up:

1. Tampa Bay Rays: Why didn’t the Rays think of disassociating themselves from Satan before? Since changing its name from the Devil Rays to the Rays, Florida’s second-favorite baseball team is 3-3. The Rays probably do not have enough (yet) to compete with the Red Sox or Yankees, but this could be the first year in franchise history that they finish .500. In the past the Rays were plagued by their starting pitching woes, but this year Tampa Bay starters have made it into the fifth inning or later of every game. On offense, Cliff Floyd has started out the year hitting .333 and already has two home runs. This is the first time Floyd has been a designated hitter and the extra rest seems to be paying off.

2. Kosuke Fukudome: Could there have been a more-perfect way for the Cubs to open the season than have their biggest free-agent addition hit a three-run homer to tie the game against a division rival in the ninth? Well — besides actually winning the game. Regardless, Fukudome does not seem to feel the pressure that one would think would come from playing in the United States for the first time on a team that has not won the World Series since 1908. The native of Kagoshima, Japan, is hitting .458 and, more importantly, is producing in the clutch. In addition to the three-run homer against the Brewers on Opening Day, he had the winning RBI in Saturday’s game against the Houston Astros.

3. Milwaukee Brewers: The Brewers imploded at the end of last year but so far have regained the form they showed at the start of 2007 by beginning this year 5-1. First baseman Prince Fielder’s decision during the off-season to become vegetarian (in the meat-loving state of Wisconsin, no less) does not seem to have affected his game. Prince is hitting .364 and already has five runs batted in. The major concern for the Brewers coming into the season was the bullpen. Last year’s closer, Francisco Cordero, moved on to Cincinnati. The new closer, former Dodger and Red Sox Eric Gagne, has done little to assuage worries about Milwaukee’s relief corps. He blew a three-run lead in his first appearance by giving up the homer to the Cubs’ Fukudome.

Three Down:

1. The Rays’ uniforms: The Rays may be winning, but they don’t look very good doing it. Their new hat looks eerily similar to that of the Yankees’ Tampa Bay minor league team and the logo and colors look like the logo of a cheap Florida hotel chain.

2. George Bush: The president was booed so lustily by Washington Nationals fans when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the new Nationals Park that you would think he was Patrick Ramsey. Dubya, visibly rattled, threw the pitch well out of the strike zone. Maybe the president can take solace knowing that the Nationals rotation, which features Odalis Perez as its ace, is unlikely to fare much better.

3. Detroit Tigers: The Motor City Kitties made noise this off-season by adding Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to a team that was already World-Series-caliber. The additions have not paid off at all and Detroit is yet to win a game. Cabrera is hitting just .111 but has company in his struggle. Gary Sheffield, Ivan Rodriguez and Placido Polanco, the heart of the Detroit lineup, are all batting .200 or worse, and have a combined one homer. The pitching has not been much better: The Tigers have the worst ERA in the American League.