* Time begins on Opening Day

to borrow a title from the eminent baseball columnist, Thomas Boswell. Here’s his column from the Washington Post’s Baseball Preview.

The main item, as is increasingly becoming the case, centers around how defense is the new offense. That is, sexy. In addition to a feature on love for the glove, the Post‘s supplement (at least on-line; don’t know if there are print equivalents for these things any more, given the newspaper situation), include the standard prediction of finish/outlook (POF), schedules, and a look at the local team (nicely done here).

You can get a sense of the import the publication gives it by whether it’s featured prominently on the home page. Some might still be holding off until tomorrow.

Other papers featuring previews for the 2010 season.:

The New York Daily News ran theirs on Thursday. Mostly local stuff, with capsule previews for the rest of the teams.No dedicated web presence for it, but if you hurry, you can find the main stories here.
The Boston Globe‘s preview also highlights defense. In addition: a nice feature on the Red Sox’ Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) for the their opening day lineup since 2003 (doesn’t really say much, but looks cool); props to Tom Tippett, “the man whose statistical comparisons and computer simulations help shape the Red Sox’ decision-making”; and the usual scouting reports around the leagues. Nicely done.
The Boston Herald also has an on-line season preview, but a quick look indicated it’s no great shakes.
The Los Angeles Daily News concentrates on the Dodgers and Angels. Nothing special, but a nice show of respect to veteran broadcaster Vin Scully.
Nothng from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today, but while I was browsing I wanted to include this tribute to the 1960 World Championship team. There will be additional items about the team each month.
Paul Hoynes contributes an overview of the upcoming season for the Cleveland Plain Dealer
The Detroit Free Press’s preview is Tigers-centric. The News doesn’t seem to have one.
Taking advantage of the technology, the Denver Post has video previews for each team.
Seattle Times has a Mariners-centric preview
David Murphy handles the preview in blog form for the Philadelphia Inquirer
The Tampa Bay Tribune/St. Petersburg Times concentrates on the Rays, as does the cross-state Miami Herald re: the Marlins
Ditto the San Diego Tribune, the Arizona Republic, and the Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal (see right)
The Minneapolis Star Tribune features a big splash about the new ballpark as well as previews
The Toronto Star has this to say
No stand-alone on-line supplements (although there might be articles about opening day and a supplement tomorrow)for the Baltimore Sun, Houston Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Cincinnati Herald, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Kansas City Star, St. Louis Post Dispatch, and Oakland Tribune.