On Opening Night

When one thinks of Opening Night, it is often associated with a play. One might imagine getting dressed up, being excited, and most of all, being entertained. Opening Night is magical. If the Major Baseball league had its way, Opening Night would also describe the first day of baseball. From last night's game (the first on US soil for the 2014 season), I wouldn't disagree.

Opening Night consisted of a Dodgers vs. Padres game in San Diego. My sister and I debated why the first nationally broadcast baseball game was the Dodgers vs. Padres. We ended up deciding the weather was the determining factor. And you only had to watch the game to agree. We both grew up in San Diego and we both agreed San Diego looked so pretty on tv. For people who don't grow up watching baseball, it can be a really boring game to watch. Last night's game, wasn't boring at all. Initially, it was really frustrating for a Padres fan to follow on tv. There was the fact the Padres left men on base in the first and second innings. I personally believed the first base umpire should have been fired by the 5th inning. My sister thought the ESPN announcers were horribly biased towards the Dodgers. Case in point: when the Padres made a comeback in the 8th inning, the announcers had no idea who hit the home run. Granted he was a pinch-hitter and it was the first day of the season. We eventually had to look up who hit the home run on-line. Then we watched the Dodgers defense collapse, the Padres hold onto a win by a great outing by their closer, and the end result was the Padres in first place after Opening Night. It was a great night for baseball if you ask me.

Of course, I'm too much of a sports realist to get completely carried away. I haven't read too much (or anything at all) into the fact the Padres are a trendy sleeper pick. My only hope is for the analogy of a play's run to baseball season holds up: that closing night be as memorable as opening night. The excitement of a play's finale is dependent on the play's success. The same reasoning could be applied to baseball. A team's final game is only exciting if the season was victorious. Baseball season is upon us. May the best team (as evidenced by Opening Night! sorry, I couldn't help myself) be the one standing on top in October.