Play Ball... Again

Tomorrow, thanks to the generosity of friends, I will be sitting inside Rangers Ballpark In Arlington. Unlike last year, when a certain person, who will remain nameless (his name sounds like Ed; ok, his name was Ed), decided he wanted to use the tickets which had been allocated for me to go to the game.Of course, he despised baseball and left after the second inning. Which made last year a very bitter pill to swallow.

But all that is in the past now. By taking Mom tomorrow, I feel like I'm doing something for my Dad. He's not physically here, so I think he likes the fact that I'm taking the woman he loved so much, so she can enjoy the game. Of course, I'm going to enjoy it, too. Win or lose.

Opening Day every year, at least for me, is the greatest day there is. Sure, you get to dress up on Halloween. The amount of food you stuff into yourself at Thanksgiving conjures up images of loosened belts and naps while the Cowboys play. And Christmas is a wonderful time of year.

But what other day is full of so much hope, on a nationwide scale? Now I'll admit, in places like Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Oakland, there won't be a lot of confidence that their team will make the playoffs. But on Opening Day, the slate is clean. No team is better than any other. That's the beauty of it. Springtime is a rebirth for nature. And it is for baseball, as well. Don't believe me? Just go over to YouTube and search for James Earl Jones' speech from Field Of Dreams.

"It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again."

To me, that sentence speaks volumes and is more powerful than just about any other description of our national pastime. It gives hope when there otherwise not be any. And it allows every fan who will be in the stands tomorrow the opportunity to dream about their team getting that chance to go all the way.

Now, I'm sure that there will be people who remind me that the Yankees and Red Sox square off tonight in the league's first official game of the year. But anyone with a brain knows that's simply for ratings. It would be akin to the Cowboys and Steelers playing a game to open up the NFL season in the seventies. Or Boston and L.A. kicking off the NBA schedule in the eighties.

And this isn't about Opening "Night". Like it or not, there is no such phrase. In Major League Baseball, there is simply Opening Day. Where games are played under the bright sunshine of a perfect spring day. Where the breeze jerks the flags in the outfield ever so slightly from time to time. Where a hometown hero takes the mound to throw out the first pitch and kids strain their necks to the what military aircraft will fly over the stadium, as the National Anthem winds down.

To put it simply. Opening Day is, and will always be, perfect.