Opening Day 2011: New Season, New Memories

Tomorrow is Opening Day of the 2011 Baseball Season and although the weatherman says ‘snow’ — Major League Baseball says “Play Ball’. If the weather is inclement they will either play through the snowflakes, or postpone the game until the next day.

Opening Day has a special meaning for a lot of us who live in the Northeast and have been baseball fans since childhood. Of course, Dad would take us out of school for Opening Day – it was expected. It was magic to walk through the tunnels and see the green grass and the pristine look of a stadium after the bleak winters of the Northeast.

There are two groups/types of people who attend Opening Day every year;

Group #1 – The regulars. The die-hards, Those who have been waiting all winter for this day just to see their team and eat, drink and be merry.

Group #2 – The VIPs. Those who are not sure who’s playing since they are in a suite being catered to with TV’s splattered all over.

The second group usually don’t even know the players names – home or visitors. But the ”regulars” – those are the ones who try to attend every game and follow their team like a beat reporter.

It’s my season for sports and for the next six months, there is always a baseball game to follow every day. I’m from the old school – if they are playing, I must see or hear it live – it’s the only way.

I live too far from three ballparks to make the trip daily, and I have been to all three ballparks and seen games there. However, I cannot forget the good ol’ days with the transistor radio tucked under my pillow

So it begins, and I want to wish everyone a happy season -

And for the players themselves – Thank You.