Game 1 Open Thread: Red Sox at Phillies

We previewed the players. We followed the spring training action. We made our predictions. Now, the only thing left to do is watch the actual game, and the season, unfold.

It's finally time for Phillies baseball!

Let's get right to it.

It's obvious to me, even just looking at these lineups for the very first game, where the Red Sox weaknesses are. If Clay Buchholz is your opening day starter, you know where you need to improve. I hope the Red Sox enjoy watching Cole Hamels, considering they weren't willing to pay the necessary price to get an actual ace pitcher on their roster. Of course, the rest of Boston's lineup is more than decent, and the Phillies' lineup is the opposite of that. But let's enjoy this one, small way in which the Phillies are better than the Red Sox.

No matter how the Phillies will do today or this season, it's baseball. It's Cole Hamels and Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz and Ken Giles and Jake Diekman and a bunch of other guys. It's Phillies baseball, and we've been waiting a long time. The return of baseball means the weather is warming up, the trees and grass will soon be green and leafy, and summer is almost here. We made it through the long winter, and baseball is our reward.

Discuss the game in the comments below.