Mixed Emotions

We'll see mixed emotions from Yankee fans when the Bombers open the season in the Bronx a week from tomorrow.

The Yankees are reportedly planning on having Melanie Lidle -- Corey Lidle's widow -- throw out the ceremonial first pitch. As most baseball fans will recall, Corey Lidle was acquired by the Yankees in the mid-season trade that also brought Bobby Abreu to the Bronx. He was killed last October 11, just days after the Yanks' season ended, when his plane crashed into an apartment building on Manhattan's upper East Side.

We expect there won't be a dry eye in the house for that first pitch ceremony.

The first pitch of the actual game, on the other hand, is likely to raise a few eyebrows.

The Yankees have several excellent candidates for Opening Day starter honors. There's Chien-Ming Wang, who paced the team with 19 wins last season. But Wang will begin the season on the disabled list with a pulled hamstring. Then there's respected veteran Mike Mussina and returning World Series hero Andy Pettitte. Neither of those veterans are on a work schedule that would allow a start next Monday. Mussina is legendarily particular about keeping on a regular schedule, and Pettitte has been fighting minor back trouble; Joe Torre is unlikely to disrupt either pitcher's routine.

That leaves Carl Pavano.

Yes, THAT Carl Pavano. The same guy who hasn't pitched in a big-league game since June 27, 2005. The one who has missed most of the last two seasons with an often-comical series of injuries and mishaps, ranging from an injured buttocks suffered during spring training last year to a broken rib stemming from a car accident that he failed to report to the team.

Does anyone else suspect that Brian Cashman has already handed Roger Clemens a blank check and told his pal Rocket to fill in the numbers?

Originally published at About Baseball