It was years after I left my duties as the Central Region Director for Little League Baseball Headquarters when a co-worker came to my office to tell me a visitor was at the front desk. Inquiring about the identity of the visitor, I was told “he’ll know who I am.”
Sure enough, that statement rang true. To my surprise, waiting to greet me was my former boss, Dr. Creighton J. Hale, Little League’s President & CEO. With a warm smile, he extended his hand enthusiastically, proclaiming, “This is the best day of the year!”
It had been a few years since we last spoke, but his visit brought back conversations once shared that, to me, the opening day of the Major League Baseball season was ‘the best day of the year.’ His visit and remembrance came accompanied by a gift, a book chronicling the exploits of Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. While Dr. Hale and I did not always agree, we shared impassioned affection for the Boston Red Sox.
The brief visit concluded with a few laughs, interspersed with our love of the game and happiness that with baseball back, spring was truly just around the corner.
That surprise visit was fondly remembered as I contemplated this week’s opening of the MLB season (never mind that it officially took place last week in Japan) on Thursday. Ever since I was a boy, the first day of the baseball season has been something special.
Despite my passion for the game, my first opportunity to witness an MLB season opener in person did not occur until I was a student attending the University of Houston. Then, with my dad visiting to share it with me, we were in the stands when the expansion Houston Colt .45s started its inaugural season on April 10, 1962, with an 11-2 win against the Chicago Cubs at a temporarily constructed 32,000-seat Colt Stadium.
That first opening-day experience led, for what was a baseball-crazed college student, to an intriguing part-time job working the parking lot for the Colt .45s. When the lot opened two hours before each game, I was dressed and ready to guide cars entering the lot. In keeping with the team’s western theme, my ‘work uniform’ consisted of orange coveralls, complete with a holster to carry a flashlight, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat accented by a blue neckerchief.
The gig provided welcome spending money, but even better was the opportunity to leave the lot after the second inning and enter the stadium to watch Major League Baseball for free!
Three years later, the Colt .45s were transformed into the Houston Astros. I was thrilled to be among the 47,879 history-making fans in attendance when the Houston Astrodome, “the eighth wonder of the world,” opened its doors for the first time on April 9, 1965, with an exhibition game against the New York Yankees.
It was a memorable experience. President Lyndon Johnson and Texas Governor John Connally (wounded in the 1963 assassination of President John Kennedy) were among a bevy of famous people attending. Yankees’ legend Mickey Mantle recorded the first hit and later the first home run in the Astrodome. But the home fans went home happy as the newly named Astros won the game 2-1 in twelve innings.
Among my prized baseball possessions is my ticket stub from that history-making game.
Three days later, on my April 12th birthday, I returned to that same venue to watch the Astros play the Philadelphia Phillies and mark my second MLB opening day game. This time, the results weren’t as good as the Phillies beat the hometown team 2-0.
Since then, decades have passed, and while I’ve seen hundreds of games in every existing Major League stadium, I have not been in attendance for another opening day game.
My nostalgia aside, the almost-romantic hold MLB had held among the populous has waned over the years. Its 16 teams have morphed into 30, various rule changes, the proliferation of media exposure, the money grab of both players and owners, coupled with the explosion of so many sports available for consumer consumption, has led to Opening Day’s slippage from its once lofty perch.
Perhaps there is no better example than the NCAA’s March Madness, which will reach its round of Sweet Sixteen on Thursday, the same day the Pittsburgh Pirates will open its season in Miami against the Marlins. It’s a no-brainer as to which event will attract more TV eyeballs.
Many of those same cameras and eyeballs were in Punxsutawney weeks ago when groundhog Phil unleashed his ominous forecast of a delayed spring. Perhaps, in the future, that tradition should be relinquished, instead giving way to MLB’s opening day as the true harbinger of spring.
Regardless of your favorite team or your level of baseball interest, the return of baseball and spring is a good sign for all. Root on!
