Opening Day 2013

It’s Opening Day in America and whereas it’s not a national holiday, per se, it should be.

All across the country – from Philly to Phoenix (and parts in between) everyone is a champion. The skies are blue. The sun is shining. Hopes are high.

It’s Morning for America’s Pastime.

I saw a poll on ESPN asking how many of us will watch a baseball game on this opening day. By far, the leading vote-getter in the poll (32%) was “will watch a whole game or more.” In last place was “Won’t be watching.” (19%).

Of course, in the state of Tennessee, where MLB baseball shows up on page nine of the Sunday sports section, the numbers were reversed (“Won’t be watching” was in first place with 31% and “Watch a whole game” lagged behind at 25%).

Still, on this day, even those stats won’t get me down!

You see, spring is all about renewal and I think that is why Opening Day of the MLB season dovetails with the season so well. It’s time for renewal for baseball fans, too. Last year, 31 teams did not finish the season as champs; 31 teams did not enjoy the fun and excitement of winning the last game played.

But now, those 31 teams are starting fresh again. Clean slate. Blank canvas. New pictures to be painted; new stories to write as the 2013 season unfolds. This is also  true for the San Francisco Giants, winners of the 2012 World Series (and hosts to the Gary family for a fun night and a great ballgame on a chilly night last May).

They have the opportunity to be the first team this century to repeat as champs.

Closer to home, there is a lot of buzz in Braves Country about the off-season moves made by Atlanta and, tonight, they open this season of promise against long-time division rival, Philadelphia.

How will 2013 play out for the Bravos, who have re-tooled their roster, shed some payroll (and taken on some payroll) and, also, made some changes and upgrades around Turner Field?

Other storylines to watch in 2013:

• All the prognosticators seem to be picking the Washington Nationals to run the table. Are they invincible? Are they that good? We’ll find out.
• What of the baseball blue-bloods, the Yankees and Red Sox, who seem to have fallen on hard times? Will they really finish in 4th and 5th place, respectively, in the AL East (as so many have predicted)?
• How will the Houston Astros fare as they make the move from National League Central to American League West? (last night’s debut went well, as they defeated cross-state rival, Texas, 7-2)
• How will the two L.A. teams do, now that they have opened the checkbooks to near-Yankee proportions? The Dodgers looked great today with a 4-0 shutout win of the aforementioned Gigantes. The Angels won on the road in Cincy against the Reds, 3-1 in 13 innings.
• What games/what ballparks will the Garys visit in the Summer of ’13? Answers to come.

And there will be many more stories to follow in 2013 as well.  It all starts today.

Clean Slate. Blank Canvas. 162 stories to tell.

JG

Originally posted 4/1/2013