Wednesday Morning Links: Paternity Leave, Opening Day News, and More

The baseball season has started, and I was so excited for Opening Day that as soon as my last class was over, I was out the door and driving home. I only missed an inning and a half, and though the Twins lost, I didn't care. Baseball was back. (I get the feeling that I say virtually this exact same thing in the GameThread today.)

However, my coworker doesn't share my enthusiasm. She doesn't understand why I'm so excited to watch this Twins team march their way to another losing season. To that, I argue this: I don't care if the team is terrible this year, especially with Miguel Sano out. Instead, I'm looking to watch individual players. I want to see Chris Colabello figure it out. I want to see if Trevor Plouffe's power is for real. I want to see Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes solidify the starting rotation this year. I want to see Aaron Hicks prove that he belongs in the majors, instead of getting run over by the Byron Buxton bus. All those things and more are why I'm emotionally invested in this team, even if they're merely fighting for 4th place in the AL Central this year.

• Mets fans aren't too happy that Daniel Murphy needs to take some time off... because of the birth of his child.
• Cliff Lee just knows how to win as he earned a W on Opening Day against the Rangers despite giving up 8 earned runs. Why couldn't the Twins do the same last year???
• Francisco Cordero did not give up a single run for the Red Sox during spring training, but it still wasn't enough as he failed to make their Opening Day roster. Now if only more teams would realize that spring training numbers don't mean everything...
• 31-year old third baseman Ed Lucas of the Marlins made his first Opening Day roster of his career this year... and then he lost it when he was hit by a pitch, fracturing his hand and causing him to start the season on the disabled list instead.