It’s official. Forget Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year is upon us now. Baseball is truly underway.

For fans who were raised on the game, no time fills them with more hope than opening day. No matter how bad their team really is, this is the year the trophy comes home. Never mind the talking heads on ESPN saying they have a snowball’s chance in hell.

But then the first series is played and we get to see these squads in action for the first time. Just how ready is that top-rated prospect for the show? Can that expensive veteran really keep it going for another year? Can “Baseball Tonight’s” John Kruk finally find a suit that fits?

All these questions and more started to take shape last weekend as the first series of the season came and went. There were some surprises, and several things that were anything but.

Perhaps the biggest story of the first weekend is the American League East as a whole. After the first series, the Yankees and Red Sox were both 0-3 for the first time in almost half a century. Taking their places atop the division were the Orioles and Rays. Many expect Tampa Bay to be there after 159 more games; Baltimore may seem a little out of place.

But while it’s certainly a long shot, the O’s may be ready to make a run of it. Over the past several years, much of their top young talent, including several prospects once considered among the best in baseball, have been disappointing to say the least.

Catcher Matt Wieters, who, upon entering the league in 2008, seemed destined to become Baltimore’s version of the Giants’ Buster Posey, got off to a slow start in his first full season in 2009. Last year, however, he started to break out, knocking 22 long balls and emerging as maybe the best defensive catcher in the American League. If he continues to improve, he could provide a lot of pop to this young lineup.

Recent history, though, has shown Baltimore’s major concern to be on the mound rather than in the batter’s box. Ironically, this is where the Orioles really shined on opening weekend.

Young hurler Jake Arrieta spun a gem Thursday against Minnesota, throwing seven shutout innings while allowing only two hits. It was a welcome departure from last year’s disappointing showing, in which he accumulated a 5.05 ERA.

Perhaps more impressive was Sunday’s masterful performance by Jason Hammel, who Baltimore acquired in the offseason when it sent Jeremy Guthrie to Colorado. Hammel had unquestionably the best afternoon of his career, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning before finally locking down the 3-1 victory.

No one believes the Orioles are going to have three or four Cy Young contenders toeing the rubber in 2012. But maybe they won’t need to in order to find themselves in the hunt come September.

The Red Sox, picked by many to win the division, appear to have major holes in their starting rotation. As of Monday, Josh Beckett held the dubious honor of having given up the most home runs in the league, surrendering five on Saturday against the Tigers in Detroit. Young starter Clay Buchholz didn’t fair much better Sunday, giving up seven runs in just four innings of work.

As stacked as their lineup is, the Sox clearly need to find a stopper somewhere in their starting five if they hope to stay in ballgames throughout the year.

The Tigers, on the other hand, might be already set to punch their tickets to October. The killer one-two punch of Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder appears to be every bit as powerful as promised, and ace Justin Verlander seems to be every bit as dominant as he was last year. After one weekend of play, it’s tough to see not only where the Tigers’ weaknesses lie, but also where the competition is going to come from in the AL Central.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the first weekend, though, occurred in the deserts of Arizona, where the San Francisco Giants did something they almost never do. They scored runs, but lost anyway.

Last year, the Giants were 55-9 when scoring four or more runs in a game. After Sunday’s heartbreaking loss to the Diamondbacks, however, in which Matt “Mr. Moneybags” Cain coughed up a six-run lead, the G-Men are already 1-3 in that category. It’s certainly not what Giants fans were expecting

This is probably not cause for concern, however. The fact of the matter is, even Cain and Tim Lincecum are going to have their ups and downs over the course of the long season. If anything, Giants fans should be excited to see the “castoffs and misfits” be able to get out of their own way long enough to score four runs on three consecutive afternoons. It certainly bodes well for their chances moving forward. The pitching in San Francisco should average out.

The first weekend of baseball certainly provided a bevy of interesting topics on which to opine. If your team dropped the proverbial ball last weekend, just remember: the season is young and hope springs eternal.

Alex Grotewohl can be reached at [email protected].