Home Opener 2023
On Friday, April 7, I went to my first home opener since 2019. My buddy EJ and I sat 300 section over right field, one level up from where we sat for my last game of 2022, a playoff victory over the Yankees. This was the first time I'd sat in that section in I don't know how long - at least since before I had season tickets in 2014, and maybe a lot longer.
EJ and I met at Forest City Brewing and walked across the bridge together before the game. As it turns out, the 300 section was a fine place to sit for a chilly but sunny home opener in April. We got the full force of the sun and it was almost kind of warm if you stayed out of the shade. I was glad I'd worn an undershirt under my A's hoodie, but I was fine. Unfortunately, most of the fans in our section were convinced that they could get up and walk up and down our row any time they wanted. I mean, seriously, you're going to get up and go to the concessions when Jose Ramirez is batting? And you're wearing Guardians gear? What's wrong with you? Even EJ, who is normally quite mild-mannered (he teaches middle school, drunk adults don't normally phase him) was getting irritated. I, as a grumpy guy with bad knees was even more irritated.
The game itself wasn't stellar. The Guardians lost an extremely meh game 5-3 to the Mariners. Very little of note occurred on the field beyond a Julio Rodriguez homer for the Mariners. It was honestly almost more exciting that Mustard won the first hot dog race of the year after being shut out for almost all of the 2022 season. Still, boring baseball with a good friend is better than 99% of other leisure activities.
This was also my first game with the pitch clock, which was rolled out for this season. It definitely sped up the game, but the speed of the game wasn't one of my concerns. If anything, it makes me less likely to get up and purchase concessions because I'm going to miss more of the game this way - I didn't leave my seat once during the game. It's a little early for me to pass judgement one way or the other on the pitch clock, but it was definitely a different kind of game with it.
I have now been to 16 of the 21 past Home Openers since 2002, having missed five:
- 2003 for work
- 2010 by choice (doh!)
- 2020 due to there not being one because of the pandemic keeping fans out of the park
- 2021 due to waiting for vaccination
- 2022 due to the game being scheduled due to the Lockout and the new date being right on top of immovable plans
My longest streak of home openers attended was nine consecutive from 2011 to 2019. Hopefully 2023 is the start of another long streak that goes forever. I may have to work a little harder in 2024 to keep this nascent streak alive. I had bought my home opener tickets via my prior employer since 2013 so I may have to scramble a bit to get them in future years.
On an amusing note, this year EJ managed to see both Tampa Bay's and Cleveland's home openers in the same season due to his annual spring break trip to Florida for Tampa Bay's and a well-timed Good Friday holiday for Cleveland's. A quick assessment of the schedule showed that if we possessed a private jet of got lucky with drive times, you might be able to do as many as 5 home openers in one season, assuming you twice made it to a 1pm and 7pm game on the same day in two cities near each other. Having no private jet and some minor modicum of sanity, we do not currently plan on trying this. Currently.
EJ and I met at Forest City Brewing and walked across the bridge together before the game. As it turns out, the 300 section was a fine place to sit for a chilly but sunny home opener in April. We got the full force of the sun and it was almost kind of warm if you stayed out of the shade. I was glad I'd worn an undershirt under my A's hoodie, but I was fine. Unfortunately, most of the fans in our section were convinced that they could get up and walk up and down our row any time they wanted. I mean, seriously, you're going to get up and go to the concessions when Jose Ramirez is batting? And you're wearing Guardians gear? What's wrong with you? Even EJ, who is normally quite mild-mannered (he teaches middle school, drunk adults don't normally phase him) was getting irritated. I, as a grumpy guy with bad knees was even more irritated.
The game itself wasn't stellar. The Guardians lost an extremely meh game 5-3 to the Mariners. Very little of note occurred on the field beyond a Julio Rodriguez homer for the Mariners. It was honestly almost more exciting that Mustard won the first hot dog race of the year after being shut out for almost all of the 2022 season. Still, boring baseball with a good friend is better than 99% of other leisure activities.
This was also my first game with the pitch clock, which was rolled out for this season. It definitely sped up the game, but the speed of the game wasn't one of my concerns. If anything, it makes me less likely to get up and purchase concessions because I'm going to miss more of the game this way - I didn't leave my seat once during the game. It's a little early for me to pass judgement one way or the other on the pitch clock, but it was definitely a different kind of game with it.
I have now been to 16 of the 21 past Home Openers since 2002, having missed five:
- 2003 for work
- 2010 by choice (doh!)
- 2020 due to there not being one because of the pandemic keeping fans out of the park
- 2021 due to waiting for vaccination
- 2022 due to the game being scheduled due to the Lockout and the new date being right on top of immovable plans
My longest streak of home openers attended was nine consecutive from 2011 to 2019. Hopefully 2023 is the start of another long streak that goes forever. I may have to work a little harder in 2024 to keep this nascent streak alive. I had bought my home opener tickets via my prior employer since 2013 so I may have to scramble a bit to get them in future years.
On an amusing note, this year EJ managed to see both Tampa Bay's and Cleveland's home openers in the same season due to his annual spring break trip to Florida for Tampa Bay's and a well-timed Good Friday holiday for Cleveland's. A quick assessment of the schedule showed that if we possessed a private jet of got lucky with drive times, you might be able to do as many as 5 home openers in one season, assuming you twice made it to a 1pm and 7pm game on the same day in two cities near each other. Having no private jet and some minor modicum of sanity, we do not currently plan on trying this. Currently.