What Happened on April 9th?

• 1413 - Henry V is crowned King of England
• Alaska is purchased from Russia via a treaty passed by the US Senate by one vote, in 1867
• The Suez Canal in Egypt is open for shipping in 1957
• The Astrodome opened it's turnstiles for the first time, making indoor baseball a reality, in 1965
• Yankees pitcher David Robertson is born in 1985
• Hugh Hefner (Playboy Enterprises founder) was born today in 1926.  Coincidentally, porn actress Jenna Jameson is also born today, in 1974
• My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way turns 35 today (born in 1977)
• "Pops" Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates, died today in 2001
•  Promising Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart died suddenly in a car crash in 2009
• Freak show performer Zip the Pinhead passed away in NYC in 1926

Have a great Monday, if that's even possible.

Instagram Feature; MLB Opening Weekend

Instagram Feature
If you've been thinking to yourself, "there sure are a lot of pictures on the top of this page" when you check out WRT, you're right, there are.  My Instagram feed is fed right to the blog.

Thanks to the people at Instagram for bringing their platform over to Android.  I can finally snap and shoot photos with my phone and share them with the world.  There's plenty of filter options to make it look like I'm a really good photographer.  I promise not to take pictures of the sky - those are severely played out and have become boring to look at - unless it's a kick ass shot.  And I am not a hipster.

MLB Opening Weekend Storylines
Baseball season is here and so are the premature headlines that are shaping the baseball world.

Here's some shocking stories and some that aren't so shocking.

• SHOCKER - The New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles are both 3-0.  They swept the Braves at Citi Field, holding them to just seven runs while scoring twelve of their own.  Johan Santana was the only starter not to get a W (Niese and Dickey both got W's).  Lucas Duda has two homeruns and David Wright is hitting .667.  For the O's, the pitching has been the story - 5 runs allowed in their three-game sweep in Minnesota.
• NO SHOCK - The World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals are picking up right where they left off and are 3-1.  They beat the Marlins in the first game stateside and then took 2 of 3 from the Prince-less Brewers.  They did all this on the road.  Carlos Beltran looks rejuvenated and Lance Lynn threw an absolute gem, striking out eight Brewers in 6.2 innings on Easter Sunday.
• SHOCKER - Yankees and Red Sox are both 0-3.  The good news for the Bombers is that the last time they started 0-3, they won 114 games and the World Series in 1998.  They got dominated by the Rays, who many experts believe will win the AL East.  Bobby Valentine was hoping to have a better start, but his Red Sox were swept by the Tigers.  They coughed up a ninth-inning lead and an eleventh-inning lead yesterday - you think they miss Papelbon?
• NO SHOCK - The Twins lack of offense.  Justin Morneau, Denard Span, and Josh Willingham are the only three with more than one hit.  Joe Mauer is hitting .100.  Mauer and Morneau are really the only two Twins who can do some damage.  It's going to be a long season in Minnesota.

Some "By The Numbers" stuff.

•  4 - Players with 3 HR's - Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce, Miguel Cabrera, and Corey Hart
• 10 - # of hits for Rafael Furcal, the only player in the majors with double digit hits
• 1 - Duane Below of the Tigers is the only pitcher with 2 wins - both in relief.
• 3 - Saves (2) + Wins (1) for Rays reliever Fernando Rodney, in 1.2 innings pitched
• 2 - Losses by Red Sox reliever Mark Melancon in his 1 inning pitched this season
• .500 - Fielding percentage of Angels 3B Mark Trumbo (3 errors in 6 total chances, in 2 games)
• #8 - Kurt Suzuki has thrown out 3 of 8 runners - the 5 SBA in four games is alarming for the pitchers
• 5 - # of teams sitting at 3-0 as well as teams stuck at 0-3

Let's remember, it's only three games (four for some).  I am not hitting the panic button with the Yankees nor am I anointing the Orioles the favorite in the AL East.  It is what it is, one weekend.  There are still 158/159 games to - buckle up.