Cleveland Indians, Game 1, my observations

Yes, the Indians took game 1 of the 2007 season from the Chicago White Sox, beating them 12-5. My player of the day is Jhonny Peralta, for a key piece of hitting with two outs in the first inning. Hopefully, Jhonny continues to go to the opposite field more often this season. You also cannot overlook Grady Sizemore for setting the tone for the season by leading off the game with a homer. It was also good to see that Trot Nixon was in good shape, in good enough shape to get 3 hits in his Indians debut. In his post game interview, he also praised the Indians strength and conditioning staff for getting him back into playing shape after his back injury. This is an interesting pointbecause the conditioning staff has been receiving much praise over the years for their masterful work with players recovering from injuries, especially pitchers Kevin Millwood and Bob Howry. So overall, it was good to see a slimmer Jhonny peralta hit the ball well, and see that Trot Nixon may be able to contribute to the team, especially batting in the crucial number two spot in the lineup.

My daily concern for opening day 2007 is the apparent limited defensive range of second baseman Josh Barfield. When we traded for him, we were told that he was above average defensively, which he may be, but he definitely suffers from a lack of range. In the game today, a ball was hit up the middle and Barfield got to it and was able to knock it down but not able to make the play. The grounder looked fairly routine, and Ronnie Belliard probably would have made that play easily, so we will have to continue to see if Barfield can increase his range and cover more ground on the right side of the infield.