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If these thoughts appear to be a "rant"... they are. I need someone to explain the logic behind opening the Major League Baseball season in a foreign country to promote "America's game". Do owners need money that badly? Is it because they need the money to pay injured players no longer playing like Albert Belle and countless others who were given long-term guaranteed contracts and couldn't fulfill them? The fault is on the owners and general managers, not the players. Don't give me this lame "grow the game" drivel. First and foremost, we need to grow the game in our country, the USA. Remember when Mike Eruzione and the 1980 USA hockey team brought home the Olympic gold medal? Remember Al Michaels asking, "Do you believe in miracles?' with the chants of "USA, USA" in the background? Brought tears to my eyes then and still does.

I have heard in recent years that baseball is not appealing to young athletes in the black community. There are not as many Hank Aarons or Willie Mayses or Joe Morgans or Bob Gibsons. Why? I don't have the answer. Maybe MLB should think about playing some games in stadiums near areas where there is a large population of black youth that might like to see Torii Hunter and Ryan Howard up close. They may sit there and say, "I'd like to do what he's doing when I grow up." This was the same reaction that I had when my Dad told me about Lefty Grove and I listened on the radio to games pitched by my boyhood hero, Bobby Shantz. Children are very impressionable. Even Asian and Hispanic kids in our country might like to see Johan Santana or Albert Pujols or Chien Ming-Wang or Ichiro. I love to see these players myself.

Don't worry about the capacity of the stadiums. Go to minor league stadiums. Not Japan, not China. China? Aren't they the antithesis of what we stand for in the USA? I had the pleasure of playing with many Cuban players like Tony Oliva, Zolio Versalles, and Camilo Pascual who became good friends. They learned to play the game in their country. Many American players went there to play in the offseason, not Opening Day! Most of the Cuban players I know became United States citizens. They speak our language; they embrace our culture and lifestyle. The way it should be.

Aren't we in an economic rundown in this country? I don't know if or when we'll get out of it. Will we be safe or tagged out? Don't we want to promote jobs for our citizens? Not China's or Japan's? If Japanese and Chinese citizens learn to play the game skillfully enough to play in the Major Leagues, good for them, but let's not neglect promoting "our" game in "our" country. I don't mean neighborhood programs. I mean taking the players to the where our kids are. Maybe Shreveport, La., or one of many of our smaller cities that have potential big leaguers hoping to see their heroes up close. Not China or Japan on Opening Day.

Opening Day was a red-letter day on our calendar. Opening Day held many significances -- a father/son bonding experience; it meant that spring was here; the fresh air and green grass.

I met a friend for breakfast this morning. He said "Did you watch the Red Sox and A's this morning?" I said, "Wasn't aware they were playing. I wouldn't have watched it anyway." Out of respect for the game and my Dad. It was a sunny morning, but when I walked out to the street, a sudden rain shower poured down on me. I looked up. I think it was John Kaat looking down and in the words of Eric Clapton "drowning in a river of tears".

What are they doing to America's game?