(1)  The Cards’ win over the Marlins was the first Opening Day game since 2008 in which neither team had a homer or a triple.  In ’08, both the Angels/Twins and Padres/Astros Opening Day games saw no triples or homers. 

(2)  Yoenes Cespedes had an extra-base hit in each of his first two major league games this past week.  Going back to 1918, the record for most games with an extra-base hit from the beginning of a career is held by — I’ll tell you after the jump —

Enos Slaughter, who in 1938, fresh from the minors and not yet turned 22 years old, was the Cardinals’ starting right fielder from Opening Day.  He had a double in the first game of the season, a homer in  the second game, a double in his third, a triple in the fourth and a double in his fifth — five games in a row with an extra-base hit from the start of his career.  The rest of his debut season wasn’t as easy, but he did go on to play more games in right field for St. Louis than any other Cardinal before or since, by a Country mile.

(3)  The re-location of Albert Pujols had me checking the Play Index at b-ref for the following lists.  I took the non-pitchers with the most career WAR in history through their age 32 season and then broke up that group into two lists of ten names,  one of guys who had played for only one major league franchise through their age 32, and the second of guys  who had played for multiple franchises through their age 32 season.

All-Time most WAR through age 32 (one-team guys): Cobb, Mantle, Aaron, Mays, Gehrig, Ott, Musial, Eddie Mathews, Ted Williams, Mike Schmidt.

 All-Time most WAR through age 32 (multi-team guys):  Ruth, Hornsby, A-Rod, Bonds, Speaker, Foxx, Eddie Collins, Pujols, Rickey Henderson, Frank Robinson.

It is certainly not unprecedented for a player of Albert’s stature to relocate while still in the core of his career.  It might even be as much a normal occurrence as staying put.