The only thing that can top opening day for the fanatical baseball fan is an opening day when your favorite team is welcomed back as defending World Champions. Last time we saw the Chicago White Sox, they were compiling what could be the most dominant starting pitching performance in playoff history. Facing who just might be the best team in all of baseball and their most challenging divisional rival (the Indians) to open the 2006 season, the Sox appear to be living much of the same charmed life they lived under in 2005.

Most of the luck*** seemed to be with the White Sox in 2005 when playing the Indians and by the 3rd inning, it seemed to be continuing over into 2006, as Cleveland's ace, C.C. Sabathia, left the game because of an adominal strain. (*** I'm not sure "luck" is an officially recognized word by the SABR community, so if you are unaware of it's meaning, I recommend going to a Webster's dictionary to look it up.) While the Indians training staff might act like it's nothing major, when discussing Sabathia's ample abdominals, any strain would have to be pretty large in size. On the other side of the ledger, Mark Buerhle looked good, except for a 3 batter stretch which would have only cost one run, if a relay throw to the catcher hadn't of taken a strange hop.

The two new changes in the starting lineup look really good, as Jim Thome appears to be back to his old superstar days, while centerfielder Brian Anderson doesn't appear to be a drop-off from Aaron Rowand. What sets the White Sox apart from the rest of the MLB is the quality of starting pitching depth and it was put on a display on opening night, with Brandon McCarthy coming in to pitch long relief after a lengthy rain delay. Considering McCarthy would be a number 2 or 3 in the rotatation for at least 10 teams in baseball, he is the best starting pitching insurance policy since Johan Santana was toiling away in the Twins bullpen.

If you think these are the insane ramblings of a fanatic feeling the buzz after the first game of an 162 game season, your point would be well taken. The White Sox appear to be a team which will have to finish games with a closer by committee, which is no way to have post-season success, despite what some in the sabermetrical world would tell you. Despite this major defect, I think the 2006 Chicago White Sox are a better overall team than the 2005 edition. Considering that the American League has 6 teams capable of winning a World Series, the AL season promises to be another great race down to the wire. After the first game of the 2006 season, though, the 2005 champs look to be fully capable of defending their crown.

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I wanted to mention that the opening of Baseball Tonight with Karl, Kruk, and Harry failed to keep my attention. I want to thank ESPN for having these 3 together, though, as I flipped through the channels after the first commercial break and ran into an episode of "Fastlane" on G4. This was a 2003 Fox show that I'm surprised aired long enough that it could have any type of syndication deal, but I've always had a thing for one of its stars, Tiffani Amber Thiessen, so I stopped to give it a look. This very, very special episode had Miss Thiessen(s) going undercover to expose a Lesbian gang of thiefs. The leader of the gang is played by Jamie Pressly, who Thiessen seduces. The highlight of this episode so aptly named, "Strap On" (http://imdb.com/title/tt0578217/) is when Thiessen, Pressly, and another lesbian gang member who looks similar to Angelina Jolie, share a naked hot tub moment. Since it was a network television show, the naked bodies were underwater, but Thiessen and Pressley give a kiss so passionate that I was squirming on my couch more than listening to Harry Reynolds break down the steroid scandal. BRAVO Miss Thiessen and Miss Pressly!!!