Opening Day 2009 at Camden Yards Was a Flop For The Yankees

Welcome back to the next chapter of 2009 Yankees: The Last Championship - a week-by-week remembrance of the year in which they gave us their most recent World Series title. Today, the season began at Camden Yards in Baltimore, and this was not the Opening Day the Yankees had in mind as big-money free agents CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira flopped in their first game wearing the interlocking NY. Lets get to it.

BALTIMORE (April 6, 2009) - So much excitement, so much anticipation heading into Opening Day at Camden Yards. And then splat, an absolute dud from the Yankees as the Orioles ruined the debuts of CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira during a 10-5 blowout.

“I was terrible. I battled from the first inning on,” Sabathia said of one of the worst starts in his MLB career. “At some point I’m usually able to find it. Today was just one of those days where I didn’t. When I have one of those days, this is the result you get.”

The big lefty lasted only 4.1 innings and was tagged for six earned runs on eight hits, five walks and two wild pitches, and he did not record a single strikeout, something that hadn’t happened in his previous 110 starts dating back to July 25, 2005.

This was one of only 49 times in his 560-start career where he allowed at least six earned runs, one of just 27 times where he walked five or more, and one of only five times where he did not strike anyone out.

It was mind-boggling how bad Sabathia was, and Teixeira certainly wasn’t any better as he went 0-for-4 with a walk and left five men on base.

Of course, it was their first game as Yankees, and manager Joe Girardi certainly wasn’t worried about the two men George Steinbrenner had shelled out a combined $341 million to acquire after one day by the Chesapeake Bay.

“They’ve both had slow starts in their careers, so I wouldn’t say it’s because they’re in a Yankee uniform and they’re trying to do too much,” Girardi said. “It just didn’t happen for them today.”

In recent years, as the Orioles had fallen on hard times - they hadn’t made it to the postseason or finished above .500 since 1997 while averaging 90 losses per year - Camden Yards had become a version of Yankee Stadium South. For most games when the Yankees were in town, the ballpark was typically half full and it seemed like half of those people were rooting for the visitors.

But for Opening Day, it was definitely a pro-Baltimore crowd as a record 48,607 turned out and were rewarded by a 14-hit explosion including three each by the 1-2 hitters Brian Roberts and Adam Jones who combined to score five times.

“This is my first time ever facing him, so I don’t know how his command usually is,” Jones said of Sabathia. “But I’d give credit to our hitters, man. We laid off some of the nastiest stuff that he was throwing. He throws a nasty changeup. B-Rob had an at-bat where he laid off a 3-2 changeup. That’s a very good pitch.”

Down 1-0 in the third, Jones ripped a two-run triple and then scored on a Nick Markakis sacrifice fly and the Orioles never looked back. They tacked on three more runs in the fifth when six of the seven men Sabathia faced before Girardi yanked him with the Yankees trailing 6-1.

For Teixeira, there was a little more to deal with it. He was born in Annapolis and grew up in Baltimore, and during his free agency tour, it looked like the Orioles were going to have a great chance to bring their native son home with a $140 million offer. Instead, the Yankees wielded their mighty portfolio and Teixeira had no problem spurning the home folks for $180 million of the Steinbrenner largesse.

Every time he came to the plate he was booed, and every time he made an out he was cheered.

“Especially with me coming back and not signing with the Orioles, I expected nothing less,” Teixeira said. “I love Baltimore, the fans are passionate; they’re the greatest fans when the O’s are winning. In a perfect world the Orioles would’ve won the World Series every year I was alive and I’d be an Oriole right now. I have so much love for this city, for this organization, but in the business world and in the baseball world, sometimes you have to make difficult decisions. When it came down to it, the Yankees were the better fit for me.”

Which, of course, was kind of laughable because the fit was solely about money, nothing more, nothing less. Had the Yankees offered $140 million, in all likelihood he would have been wearing the orange and black uniform he grew up rooting for.

Teixeira’s family sat in the Yankees’ family section and all they could do was grin and bear it. His father John, a former Navy pilot, said of the booing fans all around him, “I don’t blame them. It would have been a wonderful story to have played out. The Orioles weren’t in position to bring him home. They did what they needed to do and Mark did what he needed to do.”

On this day, at least on the diamond, the Orioles got the last laugh. By the end of a 98-loss season, there were very few laughs emanating from the ballpark or in the Orioles clubhouse.

Here’s how the rest of Week 1 went for the Yankees:

• April 8: This was the start of what would become a miserable half season for Chien-Ming Wang as he got lit up for seven runs inside four innings and the Orioles made it two in a row with a 7-5 victory.

• April 9: The Yankees salvaged the final game of the opening series with an 11-2 victory. A.J. Burnett won in his debut, Mark Teixeira hit his first Yankee home run, and Nick Swisher went 3-for-5 with a double, a homer and five RBI. “We needed it after those two losses,” Burnett said. “I tried to set the tone and stop the bleeding. Getaway day is a lot more fun with a W.”

• April 10: Jorge Posada’s two-run single in the first put the Yankees up early and they held on behind a strong seven innings from Andy Pettitte for a 4-1 victory in Kansas City. “I had to watch three games, so I was just looking forward to getting out there for my first time,” Pettitte said.

• April 11: Swisher continued his hot streak with a double, a triple and three RBI and Posada had two doubles and three RBI in a 6-1 victory over the Royals. Bouncing back from his Opening Day flop, Sabathia pitched six-hit shutout ball for 7.2 innings. “Pretty much with me, whether I pitch good or bad, after it’s over, it’s over,” he said.

• April 12: The Yankees missed the sweep as the Royals earned a 6-4 victory when they scored three runs in the eighth off Jose Veras and Phil Coke, ruining a solid start from Joba Chamberlain. “I’m really disappointed in myself,” Coke said. “I feel like I stunk it up really bad today.”

NEXT SATURDAY: Derek Jeter’s clutch hitting delivered a victory over the Rays as the Yankees ended a season-opening three-city, nine-game road trip.