Opening Day in Major League Baseball is unlike any other event in sports. It is the culmination of a long winter leading into spring, it is a new beginning for every team — a clean slate and a fresh hope that each team has to make it to the Fall Classic.
The unfurling of the large American flag, the full introduction of each team and a military plane flyover are standing traditions at each ballpark nationwide on opening day.
The view from my seats on Opening Day. The Diamondbacks defeated the Cardinals 6-2. Photo by Nick KruegerEach team has its own unique traditions. The Cincinnati Reds have the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade, the St. Louis Cardinals bring out the Budweiser Clydesdales and paraded the late Stan Musial around the outfield in a golf cart. It doesn’t happen every year but the president of the United States traditionally throws out a first pitch at a game too.
This year I had the privilege of sitting six rows behind the home plate for opening day between the St. Louis Cardinals (my team) and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The grass was so close I could smell it, and players kicked up enough dust that I sneezed when the particles entered my nose.
If you yelled loud enough the players could hear you. The crack of the bat and the snap of each pitch in the catcher’s glove was audible every single time. The curve and drop of each pitch was visible; I could have taken the umpires job calling balls and strikes.
For a Cardinals fan such as myself, the day was bittersweet. Not only was Stan “The Man” Musial noticeably absent, but it was my first opening day not inside Busch Stadium. The Cardinals lost to the Diamondbacks 6-2. However, the sting of the loss was half made up for by cat calls at ESPN reporter Pedro Gomez, who responded with finger points and winks. After the game, Gomez came up to my group of friends and we briefly shot the breeze about the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and ASU.
My other remembrances include the last opening day in the old Busch Stadium against the Philadelphia Phillies in 2005, the first one in the new Busch Stadium against the Milwaukee Brewers in 2006, and the opening night in 2007 at the Busch Stadium game against the New York Mets.
Little rivals the pageantry of opening day. A live band, a line 50-people deep to enter the stadium, a street fair for four hours prior to the game; it is the signal to many that the spring has finally arrived.
The mid-afternoon start time to many opening day games requires many children to make up an excuse to miss school. Many teachers play dumb, but some openly admit the lack of concentration on such a day that many kids follow on their iPhones or laptops.
It rivals the Superbowl for the next national holiday possibility that will never happen. Friends of season ticket holders fight for that extra ticket. It’s a historic day that is rarely forgotten and like my experiences, you usually remember it. I’ll always remember this opening day for the proximity of the seats and meeting Pedro Gomez. Opening day fever even stretched into the classroom this year. A teacher of mine here at ASU, who shall remain nameless, let my class out an hour early, “because it’s opening day.”
If you have any suggestions as to what you would like to see me write about or cover this semester, have a comment about a recent post or simply want to talk sports, contact me at nkruege1@asu.edu or via Twitter @npkrueger
