Unit to Start on Opening Day

The suspense was killing me. Would it be Game 7 goat Kevin Brown? Would it be Jaret Wright? Maybe it would be a surprise start like Mike Stanton. I just had no idea. Luckily, today, Joe Torre finally ended the waiting.

That's right. It's official; Randy Johnson is starting Opening Night Day for the Yankees. He'll square off against David Wells as the Yankees look to start the season off by utterly pounding the World Champions. Is it too early to start chanting 2-oh-oh-4?

In all seriousness, I don't think many Yankee fans had too many doubts as to who would start Opening Day since the Big Unit arrived in pinstripes a few months ago. As one of the most dominant lefties in history, RJ would be the logical choice to start everyone's Opening Day. While the Yanks waited until today to announce the decision, the media had proclaimed him the Opening Day when it was discovered that Curt Schilling could have faced off against Randy Johnson on Opening Day. Schilling's rehab has since made the point moot.

The Yankees could not have picked a better day to annoint Johnson their Opening Day starter. He faced the beast of the NL East today and utterly silenced them. He gave up one hit and one walk while striking out eight in six innings. He took a no-hitter into the fifth. Of course, the Braves were the victims during Randy's perfect game this year, but this is still an encouraging sign.

The Unit is primed to start the season, and with any luck, his regular season Yankee debut will look as pretty as today's start did.