Opening Night(mare)

Talk about this column here ... 

It is just one game.  It is just one game.  It is just one game.

It feels an awful lot like a reality check, though.

The Tribe started their “unfinished business” after their late season collapse to the eventual World Series champs with a loss in which just about everything went wrong.

Forget about being able to set the tone by beating the White Sox on the night they hoisted their World Series banner.  The game was full of reminders to all of us who were not completely sold on the Tribe’s off-season that there may indeed be reason to be nervous:

First and foremost, the Tribe enjoyed a remarkable season of health out of its starting rotation in 2005.  They should eclipse the number of missed starts from their rotation from a year ago by the end of April thanks to C.C. Sabathia’s muscle pull in the third inning yesterday.

Jim Thome, who has still not filed any type of police report for having his Indians jersey ripped off his back, homered in his first game against his former club. 

We had our first look at the Indians bullpen minus Bob Howry and Arthur Rhodes.

It is just one game.  It is just one game.  It is just one game.

But, since we are talking about it anyways, help me out with this SAT-style question:

Team A wins the World Series.  Team A improves its starting pitching and hitting.

Team B finishes out of the playoffs.  Team B loses its best starter, reliever, and #2 hitter.

Who will be picked to win the division?

Some of the predictions you’ll see on this website and others may surprise you.

When it is all said and done, the Indians could win the divison.  But they are in no way better than the Chicago White Sox of as today.  And that is more truthful than a Danny Graves 85-MPH fastball.  But, the good news is…

It is just one game.  It is just one game.  It is just one game.