Perspectives: Likes and Dislikes

by Paul Semendinger

March 29, 2024

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Yesterday was Opening Day, ummm, afternoon, and it was great.

I figured it might be fun to recap some of the good and bad from the Yankees' first game.

• I didn't like Anthony Volpe batting sixth. If I were running the team, he'd bat ninth for a month or two to prove he can be a productive MLB hitter. He proved me wrong, for a day at least. Volpe had a great game.

• I didn't like Giancarlo Stanton batting fourth. He should be nowhere near the middle of the lineup until he proves he's a hitter again.

• I never like seeing Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hitting back-to-back. The Yankees should have learned the folly of that approach years ago.

• I didn't like all the double plays the Yankees hit into and all the men left on base.

• I didn't like Nestor Cortes' rough start.

• I didn't like Clay's Holmes' rough finish.

I should call this part of the article loves rather than likes:

• I love the new-look retro road uniforms.

• I love that Anthony Volpe was on base a ton.

• I love that the Yankees took so many pitches and were very patient at the plate.

• I love that Nestor Cortes didn't melt, and instead, rose -up and pitched well after the initial would-be disaster

• I love seeing Juan Soto in the lineup

• I love that Soto played well in right field and threw the runner out at home in the ninth inning

• I loved the catch Alex Verdugo made.

• I loved seeing Jonathan Loaisiga pitching well out of the pen.

• I loved Oswaldo Cabrera's homer.

• I loved the energy the Yankees played with.

• I loved seeing that Gerrit Cole is traveling with the team and offering pitching advice to the staff.

• I love that the Yankees battled back and even though they were down 4-0, found a way to defeat the Astros 5-4.

Maybe I should call part of the article a gigantic frustration rather than a dislike:

• Give me a break. A huge break. The Yankees, MLB, and/or whomever is out of their mind. As fans. we wait all winter for real baseball, we get one game, and then they put the next game on Apple TV effectively shutting out gazillions of fans. It's bad enough they do this at all, but for the second game of the season? Really? Come on. Talk about not caring about the fans. Talk about being completely tone deaf. What a terrible decision. The worst. Just when we get excited, we can't even see the second game of the year. If the Yankees or MLB ever state that they don't know why fans are deserting the sport, I'll hand them a mirror to look into. They're doing this to themselves. Absolutely horrible.