Hours and hours of baseball. More baseball than necessary, really, hard as that is to believe. The Extra Innings package combined with all the games on the cable stations makes Opening Day -- with games to watch from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in my part of the country -- the kind of day that can blow all the circuits.

Especially mental circuits. You don't realize how much blind optimism there is in the world until you watch a San Francisco Giants pregame show. Despite sitting in the same dugout with a lineup card that listed Ray Durham (age 36), Dave Roberts (36), Randy Winn (33), Rich Aurilia (36) and Bengie Molina (33, plays 43), Giants managing general partner Peter Magowan offered the following assessment of his team's upcoming season: "I think the young players can give us some energy."

You can always overstate the importance of a new manager, but you can't ignore the upgrade in Los Angeles. It's apparent Joe Torre will bring a clear-eyed approach to the Dodgers, and right away that means trouble for the rest of the National League West. His decision to start Andre Ethier in left field instead of Juan Pierre sent a message that he's going to play the best guys, regardless of salary.

So the Giants, with absolutely no chance of contending, will send Barry Zito and his 82 mph fastball to the mound on Opening Day instead of either Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum, but the Dodgers, who will contend, are smart enough to replace Out Machine Pierre with a young player who represents an upgrade in every aspect of the game.

Eric Gagne's straight fastball was a wonder when it was 98; now it's got to be placed perfectly, and even then there's a lot of hope involved. He's always carried himself with a practiced scruffiness, but the caveman thing he's got working gives him the look of a guy who's trying to pull off a persona to compensate for a lack of game. Prediction: He won't be the Brewers' closer in June.

Swing of the day: The one Alex Gordon unleashed for a homer against a Justin Verlander fastball.

Winner of the day: Pirates manager John Russell, who got a glimpse of how hard it is to win with the Pirates after they blew a five-run lead in the ninth and eventually beat the Braves 12-11 in 12 innings. By the way, I saw a great T-shirt at a game in Arizona last week. It read, "Pittsburgh Pirates: Rebuilding Since 1992."

This Week's List

• Check your dignity at the door: Floyd Mayweather Jr. knocked out a 440-pound something called The Big Show in a Wrestlemania event over the weekend.

• Most overused term in college basketball: The "run" -- as in "Kansas is on a 13-9 run over the last 4:14."

• Just for practical purposes: A run should be a differential of at least eight points, which means 4-0, 6-0 and 11-9 are not "runs."

• Weirdly, eerily similar: The quick-release jump shots of Dell and Stephen Curry.

• Meanwhile, back in Toronto, a dome sat empty: The Yankees and Blue Jays were rained out on Opening Day in New York.

• If we ignore them, maybe they'll go away: The Pacman trade talks.

• Just for the heck of it: Harold Arceneaux.

• Underappreciated aspect of Memphis' game: Unselfishness.

• Overappreciated aspect of Tyler Hansbrough's game: Effort.

• Probably not scientific, but still: Asked by the St. Petersburg Times what percentage of lesbians are in attendance at the Women's Final Four, a former University of South Florida basketball player named Darlene Herrick said, "I would say 75 percent. Of course, the other 25 percent would be in the closet."

• For extra credit, name all the ways in which the man's words don't make sense: Radio announcer Brad Sham, attempting to paint a mental picture for his listeners during a big Texas crowd reaction against Stanford, said, "The air sounds orange in Houston."

• For those of us who went to Wazzu, it's the best news since The Coug went to the 64-ounce pitchers: Tony Bennett turned down Indiana and intends to stay at Washington State.

• Breakout news for fans of liquid cheese: Ten major league ballparks now have all-you-can-eat sections.

• And finally, we aren't going to truly buy into this until we know what color the air sounds like: It took less than a week of spring football practice to spawn the first "Return to Glory" story about Notre Dame.

Tim Keown is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Sound off to Tim here.