The best way to describe what Opening Day means to me is that, professionally, it's the day of the year during which I am least cynical.
I'm a sucker for all of it: The pre-game introductions of both rosters (seeing who gets booed), the ceremonial first pitch. Seeing someone pick up his first hit of the season. Being in the winning clubhouse afterward, watching the players enjoy that, for one day, they are undefeated.
It's that feeling of renewal, of a fresh start, for which we all yearn.
I'll be at Yankee Stadium today for Yankees-Blue Jays, and this will mark my 19th Opening Day, if you give me some leeway and count home openers (rather than season openers) in three instances. The first seven came as a fan, from 1988 through 1994. The last 12 have come professionally, starting in 1997.
Since it's my blog, I'm going to list my previous 18 openers and what sticks out in my memory bank from them. I'm getting the dates, of course, from Retrosheet.
1. April 5, 1988. Yankees 8, Twins 0, at Yankee Stadium. Perhaps because this was my first, I remember plenty: 1) Dave Winfield, having just published his autobiography _ which ripped a then-highly unpopular George Steinbrenner _ received a huge ovation; 2) Frank Viola, the reigning World Series MVP, got bombed; 3) Rafael Santana, in his first day as a Yankee, grounded into a triple play; and 4) When we returned to my friend Scott's car after the game, the car had a flat tire.
2. April 7, 1989. Indians 4, Yankees 2, at Yankee Stadium. Jamie Quirk was the Yankees' starting catcher. This was a bad team.
3. April 12, 1990. Tigers 11, Red Sox 7, at Tiger Stadium. All I remember is that it was freezing.
4. April 8, 1991. Tigers 6, Yankees 4, at Tiger Stadium. I recall thinking, "I can't believe Tim Leary is the Yankees' Opening Day starter."
5. April 6, 1992. Blue Jays 4, Tigers 2, at Tiger Stadium. Jack Morris won his Blue Jays debut _ against his old team, to boot. That night, Duke crushed Michigan in the NCAA men's basketball final.
6. April 13, 1993. Tigers 20, Athletics 4, at Tiger Stadium. Check out the roster of the 1993 Tigers. What a fun team they had, as this game exemplified.
7. April 4, 1994, Yankees 5, Rangers 3, at Yankee Stadium. I remember that Jimmy Key started for the Yankees, but otherwise, it's just a fog of bitterness, for that is the year I stopped being a fan.
8. April 1, 1997. Mariners 4, Yankees 2, at the Kingdome. Now a reporter, I saw Ken Griffey, Jr. go deep twice against David Cone.
9. April 1, 1998. Angels 4, Yankees 1, at Edison International Field of Anaheim. LOL on the short-lived stadium name. This was the ballpark's "re-opening," with that cheesy "Magic Mountain" thing beyond left-centerfield.
10. April 5, 1999. A's 5, Yankees 3, at Network Associates Coliseum. Roger Clemens lost in his Yankees debut, and with Joe Torre getting treatment for prostate cancer, interim manager Don Zimmer dropped his record to 0-1.
11. April 3, 2000. Yankees 3, Angels 2, at Edison International Field of Anaheim. Paul O'Neill hit the go-ahead homer, and Orlando Hernandez, coming off what turned out to be his finest major-league season in 1999, won his only Opening Day assignment.
12. April 2, 2001. Yankees 7, Royals 3, at Yankee Stadium. Clemens became the AL's all-time strikeout leader, passing Walter Johnson. With one out in the ninth inning, Joe Torre went to new setup man Todd Williams, who committed a throwing error on Mark Quinn's dribber up the first-base line. Torre immediately replaced Williams with Mariano Rivera, and I seriously think that Torre never trusted Williams again, after facing just that one batter.
13. April 1, 2002. Orioles 10, Yankees 3, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Clemens injured his right hand trying to barehand a comebacker, and he got lit up after that. When Clemens, at an area hospital, agreed to conduct a phone interview with one reporter, I was selected as the pool reporter. I asked Clemens seven or eight questions, then said, "Okay, thanks, Roger." Clemens replied, "Okay, guys" _ confirming our belief that Clemens was just like the Chef in "South Park," who would say, "Hello, children!" to just one child.
14. March 31, 2003. Yankees 8, Blue Jays 4, at SkyDome. Hideki Matsui, making his big-league debut, was supposed to be the story, but he got overshadowed by Derek Jeter's gruesome dislocation of his left shoulder.
15. March 30, 2004. Devil Rays 8, Yankees 3, at Tokyo Dome. Mr. "I Hate Japan," Mike Mussina, got rocked. Paul Quantrill, facing his very first batter while in a Yankees uniform, collided with debutant third baseman Alex Rodriguez and had to leave the game with an injured right knee. Quantrill's knee was never right again.
16. April 3, 2005. Yankees 9, Red Sox 2, at Yankee Stadium. In Randy Johnson's pinstriped debut (as well as David Wells' Red Sox debut), the Yankees exacted the tiniest bit of revenge for the previous October collapse.
17. April 3, 2006. Mets 3, Nationals 2, at Shea Stadium. Paul Lo Duca, in his Mets debut, duped the umpire into making a bad call at home. This was also the game when everyone freaked out because new Met closer Billy Wagner had the same entrance song as Mariano Rivera.
18. April 1, 2007. Mets 6, Cardinals 1, at Busch Stadium. Deja vu of '05, with the New York team avenging a Championship Series defeat.
Okay, now it's your turn. Offer your favorite Opening Day memories. Or perhaps different images from the games I attended. Challenge my preseason predictions (previous item) some more. Do some (bleeping) thing, as Jimmy Serrano told Sidney in this movie.
Best of luck to you and your teams in this 2008 season.
Comments (13)
Opening day is always special and makes a fan realize how special our favorite sport is! Warm weather can't be too far away. I don't feel too much nostalgia for Yankee Stadium because the current stadium is so vastly changed from the original. Shea Stadium never should have been built. It is a Robert Moses monstrosity.
Ken, great job with the special baseball section. Good information. Interesting articles. I'm looking forward to the blog and your articles/columns all season long.
Would you say Hughes has to win about 15 games and Kennedy almost that many for the Yankees to contend for a playoff spot?
I agree with Jim. Great special section and there is little nostalgia left from the origins of Yankee Stadium and there never was any at Shea. Fortunately for us, the teams took care of business on the field enough to create special moments that transcended the location. I get a kick out of watching the Mets 69 series on SNY
Sad to know that Ken did a fan strike in 1995. Just remember the quote that "baseball has to be great to survive the fools who run it" - and enjoy the game.
Retrosheet is amazing, isn't it? What a great site.
Opening Day is just so special and definitely one of my favorite days of the year since I was a little boy.
May this baseball season be a great one and the Yankees close out historic Yankee Stadium with their 27th championship.
Davidoff mentions "Tim Leary is Opening Day starter??" in 1991.
I remember watching opening day in 1989 when the DH and number 3 hitter was 35 year old Tom Brookens. "We are going to have a llooonnngg year" is what I thought.
Another odd one was Opening Day in 1974. The Yankees in Shea Stadium were six months earlier the Mets had gone to the World Series. Only 20,000 in the ball park made the Yankees seem like a second rate tea,m. Yet Graig Nettles hit a two run home run to lead the Yankee victory (a slow starter, he ended up tying the record for home runs in April that year) and the Yankees had a strong run and almost won the AL East. One of the great unknown pennant races. Yankees had a 2 1/2 game lead on September 1st and then went 22-10. Not good enough as Baltimore went 25-6.
An oddity this year - 3 pitchers from Princeton are on the opening day roster: Chris Young, SD, Ross Ohlendorf, NYY and Tim Lahey, Philllies.
Kudos to Scott Bradley, the Tiger coach and former # 3 draft pick by the Yankees in 1981 (the #2 pick was John Elway - the Yankes had no 1st round pick that year).
Thanks for the props, Jim. While I am going to have to fine you five imaginary dollars for bringing up wins, I do think that Hughes and Kennedy both will have to pitch to their full potential this year in order for the Yankees to make the playoffs.
I have two Opening Day stories that I'll never forget. The first one was in 1999 and I was a tv reporter for a very small LI station (Long Island News Tonight). I was the "veteran" reporter of the four of us and I see Rickey Henderson about to walk by. I go to my colleagues, "Watch this, he'll never give us an interview." I go to Rickey, "Rickey can I get an interview?" Without flinching he walks by and says, "No." We all start cracking up.
Then I ask Al Leiter for an interview and he chastised me for asking the starting pitcher for an interview. He felt badly about it and then explained himself. The next year when he didn't start he was a jerk to me again.
My 2nd Opening Day funny story was the next year. I was working for a very small NJ station now (WMBC-63) and I brought my friend Howie to help me carry around the equipment, and because I knew he'd love it. I told him the rules. No rooting, no being a fan, be professional.
We're on the field and Mookie Wilson walks by. All of a sudden Howie takes out his very unprofessional looking camera and takes a snapshot of Mookie. I yell at Howie and tell him never to do that again.
I go inside to the lockerroom (Howie did not have those credentials) and after Al Leiter is a jerk to me again I come outside looking for Howie. I see him in the tunnel with an arm around Turk Wendell and someone taking a picture of the two. I shook my head and started laughing.
I hear you Ken re: wins. But, at the end of the day, someone has to get a W on their record. If not the two kids, others on the staff. It goes without saying that if Hughes and Kennedy are in the rotation, the Yankees have to get a lot out of them to make the playoffs. If not, Freddy Garcia could be in the Bronx.
Eat your heart out, Brian Cashman!
Watching Tom Seaver pitch all those opening days for the Mets will always be my fondest memories of opening day. Even when the Mets stunk (and in those days, that was a constant), having Seaver on the mound meant that the Mets were the favorites to win on that day. And most of the time, they did.
April 13, 1993. Great day for baseball. One week removed from the Time Out game. A bad memory for most of the Wolverine nation, but a big day for a young man who chose Acting 101 as his senior year elective.
Gary, growing up a Mets fan (after the Seaver years but before 84) we always seemed to do well on Opening Day. It was nice to ahve one day of dominance.