Another reason Bonds is so great, which I neglected to mention before, is that he so rarely makes outs. This, of course, has to do with his fantastic on-base percentage (.419 career, .515 last year, first player with over .500 OBP since Ted Williams in 1957.), but the larger point which sometimes goes unappreciated is that outs are the most precious commodity an offense has in baseball.

In short, every time a player does not make an out means another base runner, another scoring opportunity, another RBI chance, etc. People say Bonds doesn’t drive in enough runs (only 137 last year, to go with the 73 home runs), but that’s not the point. A player’s prime objective is not to "drive in runs" which in the long run leads to swinging at bad pitches and overswinging, but to not make an out and keep rallies going. There are only three open bases; the runners will cross the plate eventually.

He already has four home runs this year, and we don’t know how many more he’ll hit — tonight! They say he’s on pace to hit 362 home runs, which obviously is ridiculous, but it’s amazing what a quick start he’s gotten off to. On "Baseball Tonight," I hear talk about Bonds being one of the top five or 10 players ever.

Bonds is clearly one of the best players of his generation, if not the best. He is a throwback to Ted Williams when it comes to his resistance to hitting anything outside the strike zone. His combination of power and speed in the first half of his career was Hall of Fame material in and of itself. And now what he’s done in the last year — and what he will probably do this year — since bulking up … we are looking at a very special creature.

As all true statheads know, the best indicator of a player’s offensive capability is OPS, which stands for on-base percentage plus slugging. Unlike RBI, batting average or other statistics, it is comprehensive is solely dependent on a player’s offensive contribution, not how many guys are on base when he comes to the plate.

Barry Bonds is eighth all-time in career OPS, at 1.0034. Who are some of the guys before him on that list? Oh, just a few small-timers: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx … you get the picture. Interestingly, Frank Thomas is sixth on that list. But Thomas is a terrible fielder and couldn’t steal a base to save his life, unlike Bonds.

Some complain about Bonds’ bad attitude and say he hasn’t come through in the clutch. Both are true, but when you look at how the numbers stack up, it’s damn impressive. How many other players have been walked with the bases loaded — twice— as Bonds has?

Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling pick up right where they left off last November. Back-to-back shutouts from the dynamic duo, with the Big Unit winning 2-0 and Schilling going seven in a 9-0 victory over the Padres. Then Schilling fined himself for missing two signs on a failed sacrifice bunt in the third inning — what a competitor.

Schilling famously said during the World Series that the Yankees’ vaunted "mystique" and "aura" were mythical. They sounded like stripper names, he said. If Johnson and Schilling keep pitching like this, they’ll have to stitch "mystique" on Johnson’s back and "aura" on Schilling’s.

Before Schilling pitched, the Diamondbacks picked up their World Series rings. It had to be a sweet moment for Mark Grace. Thirteen years with the Cubs, kicked out the door and he helps win a championship in his first year. I thought the Cubs made the right move with Grace, but I was elated that he was on the D-Backs and aided their defeat of the evil, evil Yankees (26 championships, 38 pennants, 52 human sacrifices).

Perhaps the rainout today will give the Cubs a chance to reflect on why they had such a terrible first week.

They have scored only three runs in the last 27 innings and lost four out of five to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, two teams most expect will be fighting for fourth place with the Brewers.

One reason why the Cubs have a decent shot at the wild card is that, with the unbalanced schedule, they get to play these three teams which combined for a .403 winning percentage last season a total of 53 times. So, while on paper several teams look better than the Cubs as wild-card contenders, they have stronger intradivisional rivals to contend with.

But in the end, it doesn’t matter if the Cubs can’t score runs to win these games. Moises Alou says he won’t let the Cubs down, but he’s been put on the disabled list for the third year in a row. This injury, a strained right calf, apparently has given Alou trouble for the last two years, but once he came back off the DL he was good to go.

I sure hope that holds true this year. As good as Roosevelt Brown looked in spring training, his bat has done little so far, and newly signed Mario Encarnacion and Darren Lewis aren’t going to fill that No. 5 hole.

Sure, the Cubs’ slow offensive start could be due to the cold weather, but this second week is crucial. The Cubs need to get back to .500 or close to it, because they cannot afford to get into a big hole early in the Central.

On the bright side, Matt Clement looked strong before being rocked in the sixth inning on Saturday.

I agree that the Cubs shouldn’t panic, but they shouldn’t take this slow start too lightly either. After all, they haven’t had back-to-back winning seasons since 1971–1972. I don’t want a repeat of 1985, 1990 or 1999.

Well, the Cubs looked a lot better today than they did on Tuesday. Scoring 10 runs is a big deal for a team that last year finished seventh in the National League in runs scored.

Other encouraging signs: Corey Patterson continued his late spring training and opening-day success by going 3-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored. Maybe he won’t be all hype, after all. He’s batting .714 and has even walked three times.

Kerry Wood was wild but went five innings and only gave up two runs while striking out 10.

Todd Hundley came through with a two-run home run — the Cubs need some production out of the catcher’s spot if they are going to compete for the Central, not to mention the wild card. It’s also good to see that Baylor started him on opening day and the next day.

Hundley’s confidence was badly shaken by Baylor’s lack of confidence. I don’t blame Baylor, since Hundley played terribly, but what are the options? Neither Girardi nor Machado has anywhere near Hundley’s offensive potential, and neither has a $24 million contract, either.

A not so encouraging sign was Antonio Alfonseca, who struggled in the ninth inning, giving up two runs, a hit, a walk and looked very unsteady. That comes on the heels of Jeff Fassero‘s pathetic, losing outing on Tuesday, in which he beaned three guys in 1.2 innings. The Cubs may well rise or fall with their bullpen.

Lieber also didn’t burn it up on Tuesday. Is the Cubs’ vaunted pitching staff not all it’s cracked up to be? Will Alou be plagued by minor injuries that prevent him from getting into a groove and giving the Cubs the kind of 3-4-5 pop they need?

We’ll start to get the answer to another burning question tomorrow when Juan Cruz pitches. He impressed with his strong showing when called up last August to help shore up the starting rotation when Wood went down, going 3-1 with a 3.22 ERA. That he added 14 pounds to his svelte frame is good news.

For the Red Sox, things look much worse. Pedro Martinez, arguably the pitcher most valuable to his team (though Randy Johnson and Mariano Rivera are up there), got shelled by the Blue Jays on opening day. He says he feels fine, physically, but his first start (three innings, nine hits, seven earned runs, three walks, two hit batters) doesn’t augur well for the Sox’ season.

And neither does Dustin Hermanson‘s leaving in only the second inning tonight with a strained right groin. Pedro can’t be the lone wolf this year — the Sox need another starter to pitch some quality innings and keep some heat off a bullpen that was scorched last year down the stretch.