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Observations from the League Office

The first week of the 2006 Molson Baseball League season featured several groundbreaking news stories. Here is a quick look at what happened.

• The Minnesota Twins returned to the MBL losing to the Mets at Shea Stadium, 6-0, on March 5th. Baseball returns to the Metrodome this week as the Yankees come to the Twin Cities.
• The Tampa Bay Devil Rays had a more successful debut, besting the Dodgers at the Tropicana Dome on opening day.
• Opening Day starter Roger Clemens threw a grand total of five pitches in his Seattle debut before landing on the 15-Day Disabled List. His replacement, rookie Felix Hernandez, won his first MBL start six days later, but also landed on the DL after the game.
• Atlanta's Zach Duke won his MBL debut over the San Diego Padres, 14-2, throwing eight strong innings. On the same day, Oakland rookie Joe Blanton shut out the San Francisco Giants for his first MBL win.
• The Yankees' Jose Contreras threw 141 pitches in 7.1 innings at Fenway Park on March 10th, dropping a decision to the Red Sox. Nationals manager Al Newman the next day channeled Frank Robinson, leaving Doug Davis on the bump for 155 tosses in a 6-1 win over Florida.
• The Seattle Mariners have a team ERA of 1.45 after sweeping the rebuilding Houston Astros this week. The Cleveland Indians are as a team hitting .342-.409-.551.

Let us hope that week two has as many interesting events.