Opening Day

I guess the lesson I learned is that if nobody laughs at an April Fools Day joke, it obviously isn't that funny.

Anyway, in a few hours I'll be heading down to Safeco Field (stopping by the Pioneer Square Saloon to harrass Derek Zumsteg, author of The Cheater's Guide To Baseball, which I just finished reading on the bus this morning and will review sometime this week), for real live Mariners baseball! The weather forecast, of course, is calling for doom, gloom, clouds, rain, and mid-40's temperature, so dress warmly if you're heading to the stadium -- don't forget a good jacket, a hat, and a pair of gloves (not necessarily like the Ficus Kirkpatrick Gloves of Booing +1, as we no longer have Carl Everett to kick around any more, but they can't hurt).

If you're not going to the stadium, there'll be the usual crazy game threads at Lookout Landing and USS Mariner, and if you're a true A's fan instead of a closet A's fan like me, you can go tune in at Athletics Nation. I also recommend staying as far away from Safeco as possible, as traffic's going to be an absolute nightmare -- I'm not entirely sure I get what's up with a 3:30 game time, meaning it should be ending pretty much right in the worst part of rush hour. Alas.

Maybe if we're lucky we'll even get to see a pinch-hit appearance by Willie Bloomquist's old classmate Jason Ellison, who was recently acquired from the Giants for Travis Blackley, who was traded away as part of the Mariners' master plan to rid themselves of all left-handed Australians.

Also, Baseball Prospectus finally put up the registration for HACKING MASS 2007. Teams must be finalized by this Friday, so get your Chone Figginses and Scott Podsedniks signed up now!