By Gina Morrone ’14

Opening week means ballpark food, great walk out music, and tight pants. God, I love baseball.

Yu Darvish (2-0) and his Texas Rangers made a statement by shutting out the Houston Astros, but that wasn’t good enough for the Big Blue faithful.  They wanted a perfect game after right-handed 26-year-old breezed through 26 batters, with not a single hit.  He struck out 14 on 111 pitches, but batter number 27 drove a single up the middle of the field.  Almost perfect.

Nobody remembers almost perfect.

In other pitching news, Phillies’ lefty Cole Hamels (0-2) disappointed in his first Opening Day appearance.  With Roy Halladay’s shining reputation dwindling as of late and Hamels to take over as the ace, he seemed shaky, and certainly did not perform to the expectations that surrounded him.

The fastballs were high, and the Braves capitalized with five runs on seven hits, including three homers.  He suffered another loss in his second start, allowing eight runs on nine hits.  The Phils are going to be in real trouble this season if their rotation can’t get on track.

Former Phillies and current Red Sox right fielder Shane Victorino shined in Boston’s opening game versus the Yankees.  He brought in three RBIs to round out Boston’s 8-2 attack on New York.

The rivalry of all baseball rivalries is off to a solid start for the Sox.  They took the series 2-1, outscoring the Yankees 17-10.

However, Yanks stars Jeter, A-Rod and Teixeira are all on the disabled list but are set to return in May. It will be interesting to watch this matchup in their next series which starts on May 31. Rumors of the Yankees demise may be greatly exaggurated–watch out for the Bronx Bombers when they get their stars back.

Bring on the extra innings, the mascots, and the seventh-inning stretch.  Baseball is back, and I couldn’t be happier.