Cubs Vs. Nationals: 2012 Opening Day!!!

The Cubs finally get real baseball underway today! And, y'know what, the matchup actually kind of favors the Cubs and I'm feeling optimistic for no good reason.

For those interested, I will be dropping by FanGraphs' opening day chat around 4:00 p.m. CDT, presumably to talk about Ryan Dempster's perfect game in progress and Bryan LaHair's multi-home-run day.

Here's the lineup for the Chicago Cubs vs. the Washington Nationals, Game 1:

#Cubs #OpeningDay lineup vs. @Nationals: DeJesus RF, Barney 2B, Castro SS, Soriano LF, Stewart 3B, Baker 1B, Byrd CF, Soto C, Dempster P

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 5, 2012

What's sort of funny about Opening Day this year: Don't we say that the teams all start the season in first place or something to the nature? Well, the Cubs start the season down half a game to the St. Louis Cardinals. Yeah, that's a portent.