It’s finally Opening Day. Once again we can bask in the glow of baseball games whose scores matter. For one day, we’ll ignore the controversies–pitch clocks, runners on base in extra innings, minor league pay and the possible impending demise of the independent leagues, and team-based pricing for parking.
Plenty of time for the issues later: the season is a marathon, not a sprint*. For now, it’s sufficient to pour the lemonade (or beer, if your tastes run in that direction), grab a hot dog/barbecued rib/artery-hardening ballpark food of choice, and luxuriate.
* Sorry. Had to say it.
All thirty teams were supposed to play today. That’s never happened before. The idea was dreamed up to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Fifty years ago, as a result of his assassination, all of the teams–there were twenty that season–played their first game of the year on the same day. That had never happened before, and it hadn’t happened since.
It’s not happening today either. As I write this, around 9am Pacific, two games have been postponed due to bad weather. The Pirates/Tigers game in Detroit and the Nationals/Reds game in Cincinnati will be played tomorrow, assuming the weather improves sufficiently.
Traditionally, of course, Cincinnati has always hosted the official first game of the season–a tradition that’s fallen by the wayside in recent years, what with teams playing overseas and scheduled-for-TV games the night before Opening Day–so it’s a bit ironic that the Reds’ game is one of the ones getting pushed.
But, MLK tribute or no, there’s still plenty of baseball today. I’ve got a busy schedule just with the teams I follow. I’ll skip the actual first game of the season (Cubs/Marlins at 9:40); my season will start with the Mets game at 10:10, jump between Baltimore and Tampa Bay for the Orioles (12:05) and Red Sox (1:00), swing down to LA for the Giants (4:08), and finally wrap up with the Mariners at 7:10.
Even without extra innings, that’s a good twelve hours of the One True Game. Sounds about right.
I’ll cut back to something a little more sensible tomorrow–if only because the Mariners have the day off–but I’ll wallow today.
Join me, won’t you? Ignore the parachutes, the trained eagles, and the off-key renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful”. Wait for those two words we’ve been waiting for since November.
“Play ball!”
Koi Scribblings 
I’m so there, even though I’m not able to wallow in it to quite that extent.
In fact, I’m going to be working during the hour between 4 and 5, this afternoon, and I can’t quite bring myself to ask my client to stop everything, so we can observe the first pitch. Seems unprofessional, somehow. Probably an ethics issue, as well.
I can’t say, though, (just between us) that my full attention will be on what’s going on in the room for that hour. I’m only human, and this- this is Opening Day! I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen next year.
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You sure your client isn’t a fan? They might be happy to relocate to the park–or at least a convenient bar with a big-screen TV.
Or maybe not; you’re right that the ethics considerations are troubling.
At least you should be able to catch the last 2/3 of the game. Best of luck to the Giants this year.
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