I confess I watched the entire 4-hour Yankee-Red Sox game on Sunday; what can I say, it's been a long winter. And it was a good game, though I could only tolerate having the sound on for the first two innings (and sadly didn't turn it on in time for Neil Diamond's appearance).

Right now it's late, I'm watching Oakland vs Seattle in the 7th. Felix Hernandex wilted a little bit last inning but still leads 3-1. Glen Kuiper just announced that we were about to hear a "lovely rendition of God Bless Am...." and then MLBTV cut away. But I'm sure it was lovely.

Around the league...

• Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum have launched the NL Cy Young Award race
• Jason Heyward has launched the NL Rookie of the Year Award race
• Albert Pujols has launched the NL Albert Pujols Award race
• the home team in Toronto teased us with 6 no-hit innings, but lost
• Yahoo Sports has been down most of the day.

There is of course a tendency to vent after the home team blows a 9th inning lead on opening day. On the other, there will be many losses in Toronto this year, and every team will blow some saves. By August, games like this bare go noticed.

But I'll do a little venting anyways. As a fan of the team, it was really annoying watching last year's team try to compete with a 21-man roster, while most other teams use 25 men. Cito Gaston just doesn't like using his bench. Late in the game, Lyle Overbay struck out with the bases loaded against Darren Oliver.

Overbay is still useful when kept within his limits, but he's hit .206 with no power against left-handers the past two seasons. He will never hit them again; it's a skill that he's lost forever. But Cito won't pinch hit, so fans better get used to it.

Also,

• for some reason, when I first saw the name "Austin Jackson" a couple of years ago, I formed a mental picture of a white, left-handed player. I saw him for the first time today, and apparently he's black and right-handed. He also threw out a runner at home plate.
• apparently, the Mariners have are using a 6-man bullpen with no left-handers. Cool.
• Rod Carew visited the booth in the Angels' broadcast. The announcer asked him about the lost art of base stealing. Carew responded that players today like to be successful more often, and don't just run for the sake of running - which not only is an awesome answer, but also strongly suggests that base stealing is even more of an "art" than it was 30 years ago.

And is also true, of course; the success rate in the AL was 74% last year, compared to 65% in 1980. And there were MORE stolen bases in 2009 than in 1980 in the AL, with the same number of teams and games (the AL has had 14 teams since 1977).

And the Athletics have come back to tie it; Sabathia, Verlander, Greinke and King Felix all get no-decisions the first time around. Probably time for bed.