Major League Baseball scheduled two blockbuster series for Opening Day as two of the American League's promising young teams squared off against two heavy favorites for the 2006 American League title.
The Oakland Athletics met the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians took on the Central Division-rival Chicago White Sox. Oakland and Cleveland, two of the game's less-experienced teams, each took two games out of three from two of the AL's heavyweights.
In Oakland, the As' offense was hit-or-miss, and the Opening Day 15-2 blowout from the Bronx Bombers was by all accounts a disaster for ace Barry Zito. But thanks to three young pitchers - Rich Harden, Dan Haren, and closer Huston Street - the As' showing in the series makes for a promising season.
The 24-year-old Harden and 25-year-old Haren were both a bit rusty in the first few innings, but both hurlers calmed down, and in both games, the Athletics emerged with wins over New York.
At just 22, Street is already the leader of what may be baseball's best bullpen. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year came away with a 4-3 win in Harden's Tuesday start, as he pitched a scoreless ninth. But more importantly, he headlined a dazzling quartet of relievers - alongside Kiko Calero, Justin Duchscherer and Joe Kennedy, who all kept the Yankees scoreless in the three-game series.
Like the A's, the Tribe experienced a rough opening night when they lost both the game and their ace, as C.C. Sabathia wound up on the disabled list. But like Oakland, the Indians rebounded and won back-to-back games, improving to 2-1 on the young season.
In a lineup stacked with heavy hitters, including Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez, and Jhonny Peralta, the Indians have discovered a few unlikely heroes in the first week of play.
On Tuesday, third baseman Aaron Boone went 4-for-5 for the Tribe, hitting a home run and driving in four as Cleveland won 8-2. The following day, left fielder Jason Michaels accomplished the same feat himself, going 4-for-5 and doubling home the winning run in the 11th inning.
On top of that, right fielder Casey Blake had a .615 on-base percentage in the series, while Hafner and Martinez also came through in a big way for the Indians.
With Cleveland overpowering the White Sox and Oakland out-dueling the Yankees, the question begs asking: are these two teams for real?
Given their impressive opening weeks - Cleveland went on to take two games from the Minnesota Twins and Oakland won two of three against the Seattle Mariners - there's no reason to think otherwise.
Meanwhile, the White Sox offense stalled out of the gate. Slugger Paul Konerko and leadoff man Scott Podsednik have been especially weak at the plate for the Pale Hose. Similarly, the Yankees followed up their 15-2 blowout by scoring just ten runs in the ensuing four games combined. Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi and Jorge Posada have all been struggling at the plate for the Yanks.
There were other surprises around baseball in the season's opening week. For one, the Milwaukee Brewers shocked the baseball community by starting off 5-0, thanks to the slugging of first baseman Carlos Lee and shortstop J.J. Hardy.
For another, the perennially atrocious Detroit Tigers vaulted ahead of the White Sox and Indians in the AL Central, as first baseman Chris Shelton amassed a mind-boggling BA/OBP/SLG line of .700/.727/1.750.
While surprises such as these are quite possibly flukes, the opening week may be an easily repeatable one for both the Indians and A's. With the momentum that each team picked up in the season's early going, there's no telling how far these teams can go.
