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• Break out the ceremonial bunting, even in the middle of July. Invite the mayor, if not the president, to throw out the first ball -- on Aug. 12. Introduce each team along the foul lines on Labor Day.
Somehow, some way, the Mets have to convince Kazuo Matsui that every day is Opening Day. Though he missed the Mets' first 14 games with an injury, Matsui made his season debut Thursday night the same way that he made his bow in each of his two previous seasons in the majors -- by hitting a home run on his first plate appearance of the season. He connected at Atlanta in 2004 and at Cincinnati in 2005.
No other player in major league history has homered on his first at-bat in each of his first two seasons in the majors; Matsui has homered on his first plate appearance in each of his first three seasons. (The last player to hit a home run on his first at-bat in each of three straight seasons -- although not his first three seasons -- was Ken Griffey Jr., with Seattle, from 1997 to 1999.)
And Matsui did it with a flourish: his home run on Thursday was made inside-the-park, as he became the first major leaguer to start his season with an in-park homer on his first at-bat since Johnnie LeMaster had one on his first big league at-bat with the Giants in 1975.
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