It may not feel like it in the northern part of the country, but Monday was Opening Day. The games have begun, even though in this writer’s neck of the woods, temperatures have been in the 30s and snow has dusted parts of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan in the last 24 hours. The televised games were a pleasant reminder that spring will come and stay one day.

Derek Lowe kicked off the season in fine style on Sunday. After joining the Atlanta Braves as a free agent over the winter, the veteran right-hander debuted with a masterful eight innings for a 4-1 victory.

Monday, on the other hand, was a big day for hitters. There were eight home runs in Arizona’s 9-8 win over Colorado, which wasn't played in Denver. Tony Clark and Felipe Lopez each homered from both sides of the plate for the Diamondbacks, the first time teammates had executed the feat since Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams did it for the Yankees in April 2000.

Light-hitting Emilio Bonifacio, who the Marlins acquired in November, hit his first major league homer in Florida’s 12-6 win over Washington Monday. It was one to remember, as he lined a pitch over the head of Nationals outfielder Lastings Milledge, who was playing extremely shallow in center, and Bonifacio wheeled around the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

Bonifacio’s two-run homer, which overshadowed a grand slam by teammate Hanley Ramirez, was the first Opening Day inside-the-parker in 41 years. The last player to do it on the first day of the season? How about Carl Yastrzemski for the Red Sox in 1968. When Bonifacio was made aware of that fact, the 23-year-old infielder admitted he hadn’t heard of the Hall of Famer.

Rookie of the Year candidate Travis Snider doubled and homered in Toronto’s lopsided 12-5 victory over Detroit. At least a few Blue Jays fans were a bit too celebratory, as two balls were rifled from the stands and landed in the vicinity of Tigers left fielder Josh Anderson, sparking the chief of the umpiring crew, Ed Montague, to wave both teams into the dugout for nine minutes in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Another strong candidate for Rookie honors, Atlanta’s Jordan Schafer, hit a home run in his first major league at-bat Sunday night. The 22-year-old prospect became the fourth player in franchise history to find the seats in his first plate appearance.

For the 50th time in his career, Alfonso Soriano of the Cubs opened a game with a longball. He started the scoring in Chicago’s 4-2 win over Houston Monday night. In his return to Seattle, Ken Griffey Jr. tied a major league record held by Hall of Famer Frank Robinson with his eighth Opening Day home run. Griffey's last Opening Day bomb came 10 years ago in his final season with Seattle. Baltimore shortstop Cesar Izturis, who hit one homer in 135 games last season and went homerless in 2007, connected on a two-run shot in the Orioles’ opener. His first (and only?) of 2009 came off Yankees reliever Phil Coke after the O’s had ripped new Yanks ace CC Sabathia for six runs in 4.1 innings. Baltimore defeated New York, 10-5.

It wasn’t all about hitting Monday. The Mets’ Johan Santana reminded everyone why he’s always a threat to win another Cy Young Award in New York’s 2-1 victory over Cincinnati. Budding ace Felix Hernandez, who turns 23 on Wednesday, showed why he’s likely to win one in the not-too-distant future by shutting down Minnesota in Seattle’s 6-1 win. Angels southpaw Joe Saunders blanked the A’s for 6.2 innings in place of the injured John Lackey, and Kevin Millwood was terrific for a Texas club that won’t get enough outings like his in 2009.

Still, Opening Day was a power binge that generated 30 home runs in the 11 games played on Monday. The ball was flying out as if it was the dead of summer. On the first full day of baseball, big league hitters didn’t need warm weather, but most of the rest of us could use a little right about now.