Opening day on Monday was great, the first time the Phillies won a home opener since 1980, the year they won the World Series.  Steve Carlton won that game.

Here's a few notes from opening day.

- Pat Burrell's mind is right where it should be on each pitch, not his last at bat.  He had a great game to start the season.

- Thome wants to be a leader on the field this year, he told me when I interviewed him.  If he is hurt for any length of time the Phillies lose their on field leader.  All reports say that his hand is fine and he should play tonight.

- Lofton should get a confidence boost by hitting a homer in his first regular season game at Citizen's Bank.

In other games, Smoltz got hammered, and the Mets bullpen let Pedro down.   Smoltzy will bounce back, but I am projecting the Mets pen to be the worst in the NL.

I'll leave you with a quote from one of the greats...Yogi Berra:

"Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical."

You figure that one out