Play Ball !!
I love opening day of the baseball season but it's not what it used to be. MLB has diluted the significance by spreading it over three days, one game today, some tomorrow and Friday. It's still a big day for each home team but television has changed the business. Most home openers are still day games, with flyovers, bunting and the pomp and circumstance normally reserved for coronations. After this weekend they'll go back the modern day primetime TV ratings schedule. Tonight's game stands alone on the schedule, the opening of a new ballpark in Miami. The league wants a big national audience so they offer no competition for the Cardinals @ Marlins game. I plan on being there (in front of a television) for the first pitch even though my team is not involved. The Marlins new digs look pretty cool.
When I was kid most games were played during the day, under the sun, the way baseball was meant to be played. That's one reason I like spring training. March is my favorite month since moving to Arizona. It also changed opening day for me. I've already been to three ballgames this year, had my hot dogs and beer, smelled the freshly cut grass and heard the crack of the bat. It's a trade I'm happy to make.
In a few days the season will be in full swing. It's the most wonderful time of the year. Even the Pirates feel they have a shot in April. The hope of spring is one of my favorite parts of the game, every player and every fan can dream for a short time that 'next year' has finally come.
Non baseball people complain the season is too long. I believe that's what's pure about the game, you can't fake it over a 162 game schedule. No matter how good you play early in the season you can't run up a big enough lead and hide your team's defects over six months. The best teams do prevail. A team can have a 7 or 8 games losing streak, players can be mired in slumps, all hope seems lost, but over that long schedule there's time for corrections. One hot streak can erase a slump putting your season back on course.
Before you know it Memorial Day weekend will be here, followed by the dog days of summer, when a handful of teams are playing out their schedule, hope dashed early. I hope my team is not one of them, I suspect they won't be. They typically wait until September, or even October, to crush my hopes. Since 2004 and 2007 I'm okay with that, it's better than being a Cubs fan.
When I was kid most games were played during the day, under the sun, the way baseball was meant to be played. That's one reason I like spring training. March is my favorite month since moving to Arizona. It also changed opening day for me. I've already been to three ballgames this year, had my hot dogs and beer, smelled the freshly cut grass and heard the crack of the bat. It's a trade I'm happy to make.
In a few days the season will be in full swing. It's the most wonderful time of the year. Even the Pirates feel they have a shot in April. The hope of spring is one of my favorite parts of the game, every player and every fan can dream for a short time that 'next year' has finally come.
Non baseball people complain the season is too long. I believe that's what's pure about the game, you can't fake it over a 162 game schedule. No matter how good you play early in the season you can't run up a big enough lead and hide your team's defects over six months. The best teams do prevail. A team can have a 7 or 8 games losing streak, players can be mired in slumps, all hope seems lost, but over that long schedule there's time for corrections. One hot streak can erase a slump putting your season back on course.
Before you know it Memorial Day weekend will be here, followed by the dog days of summer, when a handful of teams are playing out their schedule, hope dashed early. I hope my team is not one of them, I suspect they won't be. They typically wait until September, or even October, to crush my hopes. Since 2004 and 2007 I'm okay with that, it's better than being a Cubs fan.