THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2008
SPORTS
3B
NATIONAL LEAGUE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright sits in the dugout during a spring training baseball game against the Florida Marlins March 20 in Jupiter, Fla. Wainwright is scheduled to be the opening day starter Monday in St. Louis against the Colorado Rockies.
Rockies look for 07 repeat
BY R.B. FALLSTROM AP SPORTS WRITER
ST. LOUIS Are the Colorado Rockies for real? Is this a rebuilding year for the St. Louis Cardinals?
TheNL's surprise World Series entrant last fall and a team that's jettisoned many of its stars from an unlikely 2006 postseason championship run open with a three-game series on Monday. Doubt surrounds both teams, the Rockies after a quiet offseason and a middle of the road pedigree, and the Cardinals because of pitching injuries and a rebuilt lineup.
"Spring training's full of predictions, both good and bad," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said Sunday. "Most of them are wrong.
"We don't really concern ourselves with what people believe or don't believe."
Besides the departed Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen and David Eckstein, the Cardinals open without most of their projected rotation and have been picked by many to finish in the bottom half of the Central Division. It would be a big drop-off for a franchise that's made it to the postseason six of the last eight seasons.
Yet St. Louis finished spring training on a 12-1-1 tear after signing free agent right-hander Kyle Lohse to plug one of the holes.
"You mean the same guys who picked us to win last year?" manager Tony La Russa said. "They're just guessing and who can blame them when they look at all of our questions and changes?"
"We're playing with that sense of 'What do we have to lose?' said Adam Wainright, who will get his first opening day start. "Nobody's expecting anything from us. "We're going to go out there and play free and easy and stinking go after it with an excitement level that's pretty hard to match."
The Rockies were overlooked
entering last year, and their 18-2/ start justified that thinking. A magical 21-1 run propelled them to the World Series, but then they were swept by the Red Sox and during the winter concentrated on retaining their top players.
"We believe we've made improvements from just some grounded facts, that everybody's got a year's more experience in the core group together," Hurdle said. "We've played games where we've been tested by fire all through September."
"We've played playoff games went to a World Series. Those things help you as you grow up."
also got their best player facing a team he has owned. Matt Holliday has a .418 career average against the Cardinals, his best against any opponent, and is at .483 with five homers and seven RBIs at new Bush Stadium, entering its third season.
In the opening series, they've
"He's like Albert (Pujols) almost," Wainwright said. "Almost. I have a game plan and I'm going to follow it, and if I make my pitches I'm very confident I can get him out."
Just like the Cardinals, the Rockies appear shakiest in the rotation. Left-hander Jeff Francis won 17 games last year and gets his first opening day start.
MLB
Bush throws to cheers, jeers at game
BY BEN FELLER ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — To a mix of cheers and jeers, President Bush opened baseball's newest stadium Sunday night with a ceremonial first pitch.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bush waved twice quickly as he strode to the mound at National Park. He wasted little time before throwing a high pitch straight down the middle to Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta.
Bush acknowledged the crowd one more time by raising his hand as he left the field, again hearing applause and boos. A few minutes later, Acta's team took the field to play the Atlanta Braves to open the National League season.
President Bush throws out the ceremonial first pitch before the home opener for the Nationals in their new ballpark Sunday in Washington. The Nationals face the Atlanta Braves in the first game of the season.
It was the second time Bush has performed the honor in Washington and the sixth time overall in his presidency. He threw out the first pitch in 2005 — mostly to cheers when baseball returned to the
— when baseball returned to the city after more than three decades.
Bush visited both teams in their clubhouses before the game and was escorted onto the field by Acta and Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.
It wasn't surprising that Bush's pitch was high — just as it was in 2005. People tend to have long memories when the ball is bounced to home plate, so Bush made time this week to hurl some practice pitches in his backyard — the South Lawn of the White House.
ing.
The tradition of a presidential first pitch goes back to 1910, when a formally dressed William Howard Taft threw the ball from his seat in the stands. Each occasion is different, but some years surely have more pizazz than others, and Bush is benefiting from a little good tim-
Washington is buzzing about baseball. There are opening days of a season every year, but opening days for a stadium are etched into a city's history.
Nationals Park is earning raves as a plush, appealing attraction from fans who have seen it so far during trial runs; the players, meanwhile, can't get over the immaculate conditions and amenities.
The $611 million riverfront
MLB
MLB Car owned by Santiago seized in investigation
Royals catcher Benito Santiago, a newspaper reported Sunday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A car seizer as part of an investigation into a high-end cocaine conspiracy in Kansas City was owned by former
The Kansas City Star said federal and state records show Santiago, 43, bought the 2003 Mercedes-Benz CL55 two-door coupe that was linked to Jacques Lavigne.
Lavigne, who pleaded guilty last week to federal drug traffick-
Associated Press
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