It is far and away my favorite sport and has been since I was kid. Whereas most sports take nights off or are only played once per week, baseball is an everyday friend. It is also the sport that best translates to radio which was a big deal in the summers. You could strap a walkman on and listen to broadcasts while working in the garage or doing yard work. You could enjoy being outside because baseball embraced it (except for domed stadiums which are just criminal).
There is no greater day in the baseball year than Opening Day. It is the one time that every fan of every team can be happy because we all start at the same point. It is spring and most parts of the country are now experiencing better weather. It signals time to get out of the house again. Everyone is just in a good mood on Opening Day. It is holiday as far as I am concerned. January 1 may be the start of the calendar, but Opening Day is the start of the year.
As a Giants fan, every Opening Day was the start of the season where I might actually see them win it all. I went through heartbreak after heartbreak every year, but there was always a day every spring where hope was renewed. I've wondered ever since Spring Training started if I would ever be as excited as I normally was for the start of the baseball season. After all the Giants had finally broken through and won the World Series, so how could I be as excited and hopeful for a new season when my team made it to the mountaintop? I worried that I would grow as cynical and overbearing as Yankee and Red Sox fans. There is no way those fans care about Opening Day as much as fans of the 28 other teams, and I didn't want to become that just because the Giants won it all.
The thing is I am just as excited as always. In fact I'm downright giddy. Every time I watch a game now, it will be the DEFENDING WORLD CHAMPION San Francisco Giants playing. It actually makes me want them to win it even more than I have in the past. I guess World Series championships are like a drug. You always want more after that first taste.
What makes it even more special is knowing this is the very first Opening Day for my girls. They were born the morning after the Giants won it all and will always be tied to this team. I mean one of their middle names is Posey. Obviously they won't appreciate this one nearly as much as I do and will, but it isn't going to stop me from sitting on the couch with them and watching the game with them at my side. Hopefully years from now they'll be as excited as I am on the first day of the baseball season. I hope they are fans just like I am. Maybe it will simply be the day they get to sit with daddy and watch his favorite team. Either way that is a win for me. A combination of two of my favorite things.
So I'll be watching the game today. My girls will be decked out in their Giants gear just like their dad. We'll root for our team and hope that this will be the start of another magical year.
Also just to remind the Dodger fans that might read my blog: Giants are the defending World Series champs. BEAT LA!
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