Forty-one days before the boys in blue take the field in downtown Phoenix, we already know the pitching matchup.
Dusty Baker long ago announced that Kerry Wood would again be the Opening Day pitcher for the Cubs; yesterday Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin named newly acquired D'back Javier Vazquez as his starter on April 4.
Incidentally, the likely rotation -- Wood, Carlos Zambrano, Mark Prior, Greg Maddux and Glendon Rusch, in that order -- would mean that Maddux will probably start the home opener on Friday, April 8, his second home-opening start in a row.
Let's hope this one turns out better than last year's did.