The St. Louis Cardinals raised their first World Series banner in 24 years on Sunday, but the New York Mets dampened the celebrations with a 6-1 opening day win.
The Mets got six strong innings from Tom Glavine, who notched his 291st career victory and out-dueled Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter.
Carlos Delgado opened the scoring with a two-run double and Paul Lo Duca drove in three runs for the Mets, who tied for the most wins in the majors last season with 97 before falling to St. Louis in seven games in an exciting National League Championship Series.
PHOTO: AP
With Mets star righthander Pedro Martinez out until after the All-Star break with a rotator cuff injury, 40-year-olds Glavine and Orlando Hernandez will be counted on to lead a rotation that also includes second-year starter John Maine and unproven hurlers Oliver Perez and Mike Pelfrey.
Glavine put to rest any concerns that his age was finally catching up to him, yielding a run, six hits and a walk while striking out two to remain undefeated in his career when having a five-run lead. He also moved within nine wins of becoming the fifth lefthander all-time to reach 300 wins.
The game kicked off what promises to be a landmark baseball season.
San Francisco's Barry Bonds pursues a bittersweet bid for baseball history, with the controversial San Francisco Giants slugger needing 22 home runs to break Hank Aaron's hallowed all-time US mark of 755.
But Bonds' links to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroid scandal have made him a pariah in the eyes of many baseball fans, who consider his batting statistics tainted.
For those weary of the Bonds saga and baseball's apparent inability to come to grips with doping, Japan's Daisuke Matsuzaka is a welcome antidote.
The 26-year-old righthander was a high-school legend and a hero for the Seibu Lions before accepting a six-year contract worth US$52 million to join the Boston Red Sox.
Matsuzaka, who is nicknamed "Dice-K," and his awe-inducing gyroball pitch join a veteran staff that features Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and knuckleball specialist Tim Wakefield.
Such a stacked pitching lineup could give the Sox an edge over the New York Yankees in their American League East division feud.
Boston was scheduled to launch their season yesterday at Kansas City with Schilling on the mound.
The Yankees were also to see action yesterday, as are the Detroit Tigers, the defending American League champions, who return most of their pennant-winning lineup.
The Giants and Bonds open their season on today, when they host the San Diego Padres.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB