In other news...

Major league baseball began yesterday, in five major cities. The newly-formed Washington Nationals re-introduced the game to the Nation's capital on a sour note, losing to Philadelphia 8-4. Elsewhere, Baltimore shut out the Oakland A's 4-0, Seattle beat Minnesota at 5-1, and Detroit romped the Royals at 11-2. But everyone (including Mark Sullivan of Irish Elk, if he were really honest with himself) knows that the real Opening Day game of the season is where professional baseball began. There, at the magnificent Great American Ball Park, the Cincinnati Reds refused to disappoint, beating the New York Mets 7-6 -- thanks to Joe Randa's solo homer at the bottom of the ninth.