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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 3, 2006 Bonds and Bush highlight baseball openers By RONALD BLUM The Associated Press Barry Bonds will be back in San Francisco’s opening-day outfield, President Bush will take the mound in Cincinnati and Philadelphia Jimmy Rollins will try to extend his 36-game hitting streak as the major league season swings into full action Monday. A little more than five months after winning their first World Series title since 1917, the Chicago White Sox began the major league season at home Sunday night against Cleveland. But baseball openers are supposed to be played on sunny spring afternoons, so for many fans Monday is the day to celebrate. There will be 13 openers, starting with Washington’s game at the New York Mets and ending with the New York Yankees’ West Coast night game at Oakland. Rollins tries to keep his streak alive when the Phillies open up at home against St. Louis, and Seattle’s Kenji Johjima will become the first Japanese catcher in the majors when the Mariners play the visiting Los Angeles Angels. Red, white and blue bunting will be out, hot dogs will be grilled and beers passed around the stands. Advertisement "The grass seems greener, the colors are brighter," Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said Sunday at Denver’s Coors Field. After another winter dominated by steroids and 6½ weeks of spring training punctuated by the first World Baseball Classic, baseball returns for another long season of 162 games over 183 days. It’s the first year of testing for amphetamines, so players may be downing extra coffee to perk up. No extra adrenaline is needed for the openers, however. Bonds’ alleged regime of performance-enhancing drugs was the subject of a new book that caused commissioner Bud Selig to launch an investigation into steroids last week that will be headed by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. After missing most of last season with an injured knee, Bonds enters this year with 708 homers and trails only Babe Ruth (714) and Hank Aaron (755) on the career list. He resumes the chase at San Diego against Jake Peavy, who gave up Bonds’ 700th homer, on Sept. 17, 2004, in San Francisco. "I’m going to get him out, and he’s going get his hits and hit homers off me, if you pitch to him long enough," said Peavy, who led the NL with 216 strikeouts last season. "It’s different for those guys who are in the east and come out here and face him once a year. I have to face him five, six times a year. I’m going to challenge him and try to get him out." In Cincinnati, baseball’s first professional franchise will have a sitting president throw a ceremonial pitch to start the season for the first time. Bush, the former owner of the Texas Rangers, plans to visit the clubhouses, then take the field before the Reds play the Cubs. "I hope I get to meet him," said Aaron Harang, who makes his first opening-day start for the Reds. "I might be getting ready for the game. I’ll do what I can to meet him." Bush threw out the first pitch before last year’s opener in Washington, D.C., and the 2004 opener in St. Louis. New Reds owner Bob Castellini was part of Bush’s ownership group with the Rangers. "Every team would like to have the sitting president of the United States throw out the first ball," Castellini said Sunday. "So when you’re able to win out and get the president to come to your city and throw out the first ball, for that moment you are the first team in baseball." A three-time All-Star shortstop, Rollins nearly helped the Phillies reach the playoffs by hitting .379 during his streak. Now Rollins has his sights on breaking Joe DiMaggio’s 65-year-old record of 56 in a row. The major league marks for longest hitting streak in one season and longest hitting streak spanning two seasons are separate records. "You have to start over in your approach," Rollins said. "There’s no pennant chase now, so I’m going to have to find other things to focus on." In other NL games it will be Pittsburgh at Milwaukee. Arizona at Colorado, Atlanta at Los Angeles and Florida at Houston. The rest of the AL schedule has Boston at Texas, Tampa Bay at Baltimore and Detroit at Kansas City. ___ AP Sports Writers Joe Kay in Cincinnati, Arnie Stapleton in Denver and Bernie Wilson in San Diego contributed to this report. 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