Week 1 Story Lines, by Casey Mitchell

This is Casey Mitchell guest blogging for ST today. The MLB season is underway and there have been some big story lines. Ozzie Guillen was suspended for 5 games after his comments on a very touchy subject in Miami. For the second straight year, Boston's struggles in April continue. Last season they started out 0-6 and this year 1-5. The way I am looking at it is, if they would have started out 1-5 last year, they would have made it into the Postseason. Theo Epstein would still be the GM and Terry Francona would still be there. A lot would be different. A team having different fortunes this year is the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers have started out 6-1 and they are riding a three game winning streak. Even though it is early, they are making a statement that they are going to be contenders in the NL West. Another contender in the West is the Giants. Usually known for their pitching, the Giants have the worst ERA in the National League. Two time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum looks like he forgot how to pitch. Lincecum has posted an ERA of 12.91 and suffered the shortest start of his career, after giving up 8 earned runs in 2 1/3 innings of work. The only thing keeping the Giants from a disaster is the hitting. They are averaging over 5.5 runs per game. So far, it's certainly not the Giants of the past couple of years.

The coaching situation for the Saints has been resolved, and Bill Parcells is not a part of it. For the first six games of the season, it will be offensive line coach Aaron Kromer. After Joe Vitt serves his suspension for those six games, he will be the new interim head coach.