Leading Off

MLB’s opening day sees the league breaking its first new tag line in three years with “This is Beyond Baseball,” which league officials are calling its "largest ever" campaign, with MLB rights holders slated to dedicate the equivalent of $65M in asset media to the effort over the course of the season. Meanwhile, 14 of MLB's 30 teams open the '09 season with a lower opening-day payroll than a year ago, while 10 of those clubs are cutting salary by at least $10M. In team news, the Red Sox are finding that even they are not recession resistant, as they face a slow sponsorship and premium sales market. And in a classy gesture, Tigers Owner Mike Ilitch decides to feature the GM, Ford and Chrysler logos this season on Comerica Park's centerfield fountain for free after GM said it couldn’t afford to continue with the sponsorship. Today’s season-opening preview also includes a roundtable discussion with four top MLB execs about the state of MLB’s business, and we speak with six baseball beat writers, who give us their take on the game.