Feast Versus Famine - Your Opening Day Starters

Opening Day is a day for messages. Teams sends a loud and clear message to their fans, their league-wide opposition, and themselves. Who better to deliver this message in vivid, living colour than the man on the hill? A team's choice for Opening Day hurler conveys more information than all the press conferences, exhibition games, and elaborate marketing smoke-screens ever could.

Choosing the right man to toss Pitch One in anger is essential to warning the rest of the league "it starts bad and gets worse. You're all playing for second." Sending out a strapping bruiser with bad intentions and blazing heat tells your paying customers "Look at this beast on the mound, you're getting a show today friends!" Of course, sending forth a feeble retread or green rookie lets all interested parties know "we're working out some kinds here. Kindly drop some change in the bucket for the bus ride home." Pitchers have been known to beg their way out of Opening Day duty, either due to nerves or advanced cry baby-itis.

So what do this year's Opening Day starters tell us? Is your team arming itself for the holy war or cowering in its subbasement, dreading the coming holy war? Only time and my fact-free analysis know for sure if you're looking at a feast or famine.

National League Central Chicago Cubs - Carlos Zambrano: Feast St Louis Cardinals - Adam Wainwright: Fragile Feast Houston Astros - Roy Oswalt: Feast Milwaukee Brewers - Jeff Suppan: Fail Cincinnati Reds - Aaron Harang: Famine Pittsburgh Pirates - Ian Snell: Famine	American League Central Chicago White Sox - Mark Buehrle: Discount Feast or Overpriced Famine Kansas City Royals - Gil Meche: Famine Detroit Tigers - Justin Verlander: Sporadic Feast Minnesota Twins - Francisco Liriano: Thanksgiving Feast Cleveland Indians - Cliff Lee: Feasty/Feastish.
National League East New York Mets - Johan Santana: Fingers Crossed Feast Atlanta Braves - Derek Lowe: Feasmine Philadelphia Phillies - Brett Myers: Moral Famine Florida Marlins - Ricky Nolasco: Future Feast Washington Nationals - John Lannan: Famine	American League East New York Yankees - CC Sabathia: All-You-Can-Eat Feast Boston Red Sox - Josh Beckett: Greasy Rib Feast Tampa Bay Rays - James Shields: Optical Famine Toronto Blue Jays - Roy Halladay: Meast Baltimore Orioles - Jeremy Guthrie: Famine
National League West San Francisco Giants - Tim Lincecum: Mr. Feastastic Los Angeles Dodgers - Hiroki Kuroda: Famine Arizona Diamondbacks - Brandon Webb: Feast Colorado Rockies - Aaron Cook: Famine. San Diego Padres - Jake Peavy: Feast	American League West LA Angels - Joe Saunders? Feast? Seattle Mariners - Felix Hernandez: Feast Fit for a King Texas Rangers - Kevin Millwood: Famine Oakland A's - Dallas Braden: Unknown Commodity Famine

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