Mar. 31 -- HAPPY OPENING DAY!

It's finally here, the day baseball fans have been waiting for since Jonathan Papelbon unleashed the final pitch of the World Series. And, for all you Phillies fans, since Shane Victorino grounded out on that cold October night in Denver to cap the Rockies' three-game sweep in the NLDS.

Baseball is back.

A bit of housekeeping before we head to the Bank:

-- Brett Myers will take the ball for the Phillies today, if the rain holds off long enough (doesn't Mother Nature know it's Opening Day?). Anyway, much has been made of Myers' maturity over the past two years. I don't see it. He's still a goofball. Yesterday, for example, Kyle Kendrick had just come out of the game in Allentown when Myers hollered for him to board the bus that was taking the Phillies' regulars home midway through the game. "C'mon, Kendrick. Wrestlemania is on tonight!" Myers got so loud that Kendrick barely could hear the questions from reporters. Kendrick shrugged, apologized and obeyed his teammate. As Charlie Manuel likes to say, that was "Myers being Myers."

Rather than calling Myers "mature," I say he's become the ultimate teammate in the past two seasons. Want him to be the closer? He'll be the closer. Want him to start? He'll start. "Whatever the team wants me to do, I'll do," he said over and over during spring training.

-- As of last night, Manuel hadn't decided if Geoff Jenkins or Jayson Werth would start in right field. My hunch: It'll be Werth against Nationals lefty Matt Chico, but we'll get you lineups as soon as they're posted.

-- Also within this notebook, there's news that the Phillies made no news yesterday before the 3 p.m. roster-setting deadline. Something to keep an eye on, though: Veteran reliever Mike Stanton was bought out by the Reds, and Steve Kline was designated for assignment by the Giants. You be the GM: Could either pitcher help the Phillies?

-- Whether he starts or not, Jenkins says this Opening Day will be special because it's his first with the Phillies. Judging my the e-mails I'm getting, I sense plenty of enthusiasm from fans, too, who have been waiting to see the Phillies begin their NL East title defense. How excited are you about this season-opener? More or less than in the past?

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A few leftovers from a Sunday in Lehigh Valley:

As I wrote yesterday, the ballpark is nice. If you have a chance during the season, try to get up there for a game. The IronPigs (that's the name of the new Class AAA team) is a little light on prospects. Just catcher Jason Jaramillo and pitchers J.A. Happ and Joe Bisenius. But, as with most Class AAA teams, there are plenty of guys with major-league experience -- Chris Snelling, Chris Woodward, J.D. Durbin, to name a few -- who may be in Philly at some point during the season.

The visiting locker room is a bit cramped, although there are ammenities, like two flat-screen TVs, that aren't common in minor-league clubhouses. Before the game, a clock fell off the wall and nearly hit Jimmy Rollins in the head. Phillies director of publicity John Brazer didn't miss a beat. "You almost got clocked," he cracked.

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We'll be posting throughout the day, so if you're stuck at work and can't get to a TV or radio (or even if you can), please keep checking back.