This column originally ran in The Standard-Times on April 8, 2005.

By Nick Tavares

Baseball came back with a roar this week, and not a moment too soon.

After a winter of putting up with zero NHL ice action, steroid scandals and endless Yankee-Red Sox feud stories, seeing the best in the bigs get back on the field was a welcome relief, not to mention a sure sign that spring is on its way. I even wore a T-shirt the other day without having my skin freeze and fall off.

The Sox-Yanks opener last Sunday was a typical blah affair, as most over-hyped Boston openers seem to be. The real fun began the next afternoon.

At 1 p.m., the national broadcasts began with the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals, who may just wind up taking this year's less-than-coveted "Worst Team in the League" award in September. Jose Lima was back on the mound for the Royals after a year with the Dodgers, but Lima Time wasn't enough to stop Dimitri Young. Doing his best Tuffy Rhodes impression, he smacked three balls out of Comerica Park. No small feat, considering the dimensions in that park have straightaway right field listed around 567 feet.

Around the same time, the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds gave viewers one of the best opening days in recent memory. Pedro Martinez making his debut in his new digs would've been reason enough to tune in, but he made it more than worth it. Petey was in classic form, showing the grit and swagger that would've had many Sox fans throwing their hands in the air — if not for the Mets vacant bullpen.

After a rough first inning that included surrendering a blast to Cincinnati slugger Adam Dunn, Pedro settled down to strike out 12 of the last 14 batters he faced. The other two batters? A walk and a weak fly-ball out to center field.

In typical Pedro fashion, he left the game with a lead only to have his bullpen cost him the win. Braden Looper gave up consecutive homers to Dunn and Joe Randa, costing the Mets the game and giving Cincy their first-ever walk-off win on Opening Day.

Later that night, the new-look Cubs thrashed the Arizona Diamondbacks, with Aramis Ramirez driving in four runs, including a two-run home run, and doing his best to prove that he's worth every penny of his new $42 million contract.

The next day, the Sox continued to prove Mariano Rivera fallible. Jason Varitek took a Rivera pitch to the right-field stands, followed by Derek Jeter answering with a shot of his own, the senior captain showing up his new colleague.

Wednesday, an A-Rod bobble at third set the stage for another Rivera thrashing, this time for five runs that would not be answered in the bottom of the ninth.

Boston may not necessarily be in Rivera's head, but they have him figured out, and no one would blame Joe Torre for handing the ball to Tom Gordon the next time the Yanks have a lead in the ninth against Boston.

There were more moments this week that make being a baseball fan so much fun, including Brad Wilkerson's second-career cycle punctuating the new Nationals' first win, San Francisco's Jason Schmidt out-dueling the Dodgers' Derek Lowe in their opener, and Baltimore's Sammy Sosa sprinting out to right field in a new park and a new league. There was plenty more, but there isn't nearly enough space to fit it all.

Which is what has made the start of the 2005 season so great.

Welcome back, baseball. It's been a long winter.

Nick Tavares is a columnist for The Standard-Times. Contact him at ntavares@s-t.com

This story appeared on Page C1 of The Standard-Times on April 8, 2005.