It’s Opening Day, Again

I remember when I was a kid. Around Christmas time one of us would ponder at the breakfast table about how cool it would be if every day were Christmas. Imagine running down the stairs every day seeing that Santa Claus had visited while you were sleeping and left presents and filled our stockings with sugary goodness.

DSC_9984 2014-03-31This daydream would always be interrupted by our parents who would explain that too much of a good thing would ruin how special it would be. As kids we always thought our parents were crazy. How could too much Christmas ruin anything? Not only the endless presents but also we would never have to go to school again. How cool would that be?

As I got older I realized that my parents were right but I couldn’t help thinking it would be cool just one time to have multiple Christmas celebrations and feel that excitement morning after morning.

DSC_9975 2014-03-31For baseball fans, Opening Day is the closest thing to Christmas and this year I finally got my wish. There wasn’t just one Opening Day; it was more like Opening Month. There was the Opening Series in Sydney Australia where the Diamondbacks played the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After playing two regular season games while every other team in baseball continued to play Spring Training games the Diamondbacks and Dodgers returned to the United States to play more Spring Training.

DSC_9972 2014-03-31On Sunday March 30th the Los Angeles Dodgers travelled to San Diego to play the Padres on Opening Day. While the rest of Major League Baseball watched these two teams opened the season, for the Dodgers it was their second opening.

For the majority of baseball teams today is Opening Day. For the Diamondbacks it is their second Opening Day and this time the Dodgers had the day off to watch before restarting their season tomorrow.

The Diamondbacks found themselves in an odd situation where they hosted the second Opening Day as the home team the first at the Sydney Cricket Grounds and the second at Chase Field.

DSC_9965 2014-03-31Chase Field was decked out in its best. The festivities started early with a street fair in front where there were bands and inflatables for the kids with pitching machines, hitting cages, and street vendors. Seventh Inning Grill was in full swing with a party inside and out.

Within Chase Field the bunting was hung from every deck giving the stands a festive look. The roof to the stadium opened with the traditional music to the cheering fans who knew this meant another year of baseball in Phoenix.

Teams were called out of the dugouts and introduced along the first base and third base lines. A giant flag was unfurled in centerfield as the national anthem was sung. Fireworks were launched high above the stadium and the capacity crowd cheered.

DSC_0014 2014-03-31Maybe my parents were right and it would be too much to have Christmas every day but if this year has taught me anything having a couple of Opening Days is still pretty special. And if that’s not enough the Diamondbacks will have a third Opening Day on Friday when they are the visiting team for the Colorado Rockies home opener. I could get used to this.

Jeff Summers

Just a digital guy in an analog world pondering the metaphysics of baseball and whether the knuckleball defies Newton's first law of motion.

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Jeff Summers

Jeff Summers

Baseball Epistemologist

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