The 2010 Major League Baseball season is set to begin Sunday, April 4th, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. when the New York Yankees travel to Fenway Park to face off with the Boston Red Sox.
Aside from an excellent match-up between two American League East rivals, this game features two of the MLB’s best teams. C.C. Sabathia went 19-8 last season and will have his hands full sharing the mound with Josh Beckett who was an impressive 17-6 in 2009.
Winners of 103 games last season, the New York Yankees are coming off their 27th World Series title and hope to start things on the correct foot in Boston. Boston didn’t go down last year without a fight though. Finishing the season second in the AL East and 95-67, the Sox look to regain their status as a World Series favorite.
Yankee captain Derek Jeter captured his fifth championship ring last season and despite a .334 batting average, he didn’t do it alone. Alex Rodriguez proved he could rise to the occasion of the playoffs by getting multiple hits in the clutch on the team’s road to the title series. This will be Mark Teixeira’s second season in pinstripes and he has huge shoes to fill. It’ hard to 39 home runs, 122 RBI and a World Series title, but his .292 batting average can certainly be improved upon.
The Red Sox made some changes to their bullpen in the offseason including the signing of John Lackey. He will step in and be the number two in an already solid rotation consisting of Beckett, Tim Wakefield and Paul Byrd. The 2008 AL MVP Dustin Pedroia is ready to get back into prime form after finishing last season with a .296 batting average and only 72 RBI. Utility guru Kevin Youkilis will be needed to make up for the loss of Jason Bay in the middle of the Red Sox lineup.
Sabathia and Beckett both know the importance of this game runs much deeper than just starting the season 1-0, but both teams are just trying to take it one game at a time. Sunday’s match-up will be aired at 8 p.m. on ESPN 2, but will be remembered for years to come.
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