A-Rod counts the ring, Hideki gets hailed, and other Opening Day thoughts

You see this, Red Sox fans? This is how you welcome back your playoff hero who went off to a rival team - the way the Yankees, and their fans, welcomed back Hideki Matsui to the Bronx yesterday.

I thought the hugs, cheers, and accolades for Matsui were terrific yesterday, and a highlight of Tuesday's home opener. (Yahoo Sports has a nice slide show of pix from the event, and MLB has video if you want to see it.) It was great to see Matsui treated that way. His old teammates were happy to see him (and Derek Jeter even played a joke on him with a fake ring!)

And Matsui arguably got the biggest cheers of the day from the fans, even though he's wearing a different-colored uniform now. Yes, I realize that the Angels aren't the Yankee rivals the way the Red Sox are, althought they have been a thorn in the Yankees' side for the last decade. But the way some Boston fans couldn't give Johnny Damon one measly at-bat to cheer him still rankles. So there!

Here are some other things I loved about the Opening Ceremony:

* Jerry Hairston Jr. taking a red-eye flight from the West Coast just to be a part of the day. He seems like a great guy - and boy, did he look happy to be there!

* The cheers for trainer Gene Monahan, who is battling cancer.

* The introductions being done in reverse uniform number.

* And the look on A-Rod's face when he finally got his ring (and the look on the face when he showed the ring off to the media after the game.)


I also liked what he said afterwards about his new jewelry:
"I heard a lot of guys talking about how they're not going to wear it because they're too cool," Rodriguez said on Tuesday. "I'm going to wear it -- and wear it every day. If they let me wear it to third today, I would have tried to do that."

It I were A-Rod, not only would I wear the ring all the time, but I'd have it made to fit the middle finger, just for emphasis.Yes, I'm mean that way!

Anyhow, as for the game itself, it looked like Andy Pettitte's great pitching, and the Yankees' hitting, would give Mariano the day off. But then David Robertson gave up a grand slam to ex-Yankee Bobby Abreu, and Mo had to go into the game!

Fortunately, the Yankees won, and all is right in the Bronx - at least for now.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!