Jeter pranks the Yanks

Today was Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, and they did so in grand style. They started the day with a ceremony handing out the 2009 World Series Championship rings.

They had 27 banners flying above the facade at the Stadium, one for each of the Yankees World Series titles. Joe Girardi is wearing number 28 this year because the goal this season for the Yankees is to make sure there is a 28th championship, and a new banner for next opening day.

Derek Jeter, in a pre-game interview eluded to him doing something nice for Matsui and when Kim Jones asked him if we would see it, he said, "no, but you're gonna hear about it."

Turns out the Yankee captain decided it would be fun to prank a teammate by placing a fake World Series ring in the box. Hideki Matsui received a dummy ring as a practical joke. Instead of the white gold original with 119 diamonds totaling 3.55 carats, the box contained a replica from an April 3 spring training promotion.

Jeter is a very good friend of Matsui's and said, "He deserves it. He played here for seven years. He played hard. He came to work every day. He's a favorite amongst the players."

Green is not becoming

How did everyone enjoy Opening Day?

Even though the Yankees lost to the Red Sox 9-7 on Sunday, I am thrilled baseball is back. It just naturally puts me in a better mood. I was in Washington D.C. yesterday for the opener between the Phillies and the Nationals, and you would have thought it was a Philadelphia home game. That crowd was pro-Phillies (here's my shameless plug for for my article).

I had a nice time and spent some time in the stands with fans.

Then, I got home four hours later in time to catch the final few innings of the A's game. With MLB Extra Innings free for the first week, it was cool to see some west coast baseball without paying for it -- but then I actually watched the game and wanted to cover my head.

Kevin Kouzmanoff did not have a good first game with the A's. He went 0-for-4 with two GIDP (those were the only two at-bats I saw) and committed an error that prolonged the inning. The winning run scored on the next at-bat.

He made all of three errors last year (and did not win a Gold Glove).

Green is not flattering for my boy. Hopefully, he can turn it around and get moving. But the advantage to this is maybe I will stop fighting with new Kouz fans on eBay. I can't believe how much some of the cards have been going for.

Last year, he slumped early as well. But then the Padres came to the Philadephia, him and I had a nice chat. Then, amazingly, he hit a home run off Brad Lidge to break his consecutive save streak. Coincidence?