First things first on baseball's opening day

First things first on baseball’s opening day

March 31, 2011 1:45 PM PT

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Here are some fun facts from the opening day of the 2011 baseball season to impress your friends (if your friends are really into baseball or just easily impressed):

The first pitch of the season was a called strike from Washington’s Livan Hernandez to Atlanta’s Martin Prado at 10:11 a.m. PDT at Nationals Park.

The Yankees’ CC Sabathia fanned Detroit leadoff hitter Austin Jackson for the first strikeout of the year.

Atlanta’s Chipper Jones smashed a two-out double to deep right in the first inning for the first hit of the season, then scored 2011’s intitial run on a single by the next batter, Brian McCann.

A second-inning solo shot by Atlanta’s Jason Heyward off of Hernandez was the first home run of the year.

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-- Chuck Schilken

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Chuck Schilken

Chuck Schilken is a sports reporter on the Fast Break team. He spent more than 18 years with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports Department in a variety of roles. Before joining The Times, he worked for more than a decade as a sports reporter and editor at newspapers in Virginia and Maryland.