What’s on my mind: Opening Day

Major League Baseball’s opening day officially started on Sunday night at Tropicana Field with a game between the Tampa Rays and the New York Yankees, but the other 29 major league franchises got off to a fresh start on Monday, April 3. Amongst the teams that began their 2017 season were my beloved New York Mets, who are hosting the Atlanta Braves in a three-game series. What did I do to commemorate my 35th year of MLB opening day? (I did the math on this one: I’m currently 39 years old and have been watching baseball for as long as I can remember, so I figured out No. 35 in regards to how many years I have been doing this) I threw on my vintage Johan Santana No. 57 jersey and sat down in front of the television. There was no way I was going to miss the Mets on opening day, and if I wasn’t blessed with the chance to see my team, I would have watched one of the 10 games being played throughout the day and night on ESPN, ESPN 2 and on the MLB Network.

Every year, I either get the day off or “get the day off” to enjoy the beginning of opening day. My plan this year was simple: drop my son, Chase, off at school by his customary time of 8 a.m. and hustle the half-mile back home (by car, I’m a runner but my 2-year-old son isn’t…yet) to prepare for the game. Chips and dip? No, but I did have a bag of pretzels and turkey sandwiches at the ready. Nothing beats baseball and a turkey on wheat by the way.

I sat and watched my team, the team I have been sweating, crying, pleading for and with since I was a little kid and I could not have been in a better place short of heaven. I kept score on a yellow legal pad, like I always do during televised Mets games now that I live in the south and don’t have former Mets Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez talking to me throughout the game. Sometimes I don’t keep score, like when I listen to the games online. At those times, I like to imagine that I’m back home in New York surrounded by Mets fans at the old Shea Stadium on the first day of the season. Only the opening rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, that Thursday and Friday, and Super Bowl Sunday equal the level of excitement that I have for Major League Baseball’s opening day. It’s a special time for me, that despite a number of huge sporting events preparing to take place (the NCAA championship game and the start of The Masters at Augusta national), I have to give my undivided attention.

The pageantry of opening day around the majors is worth the price of admission. Every town and team that’s hosting a game is decked out in their best red, white and blue. Every uniform just seems sharper, all of the players, already phenomenal athletes at the top of their profession, look even sharper still. It has always seemed like the sunniest and brightest day, perfect for baseball. Nothing goes wrong on opening day; every team is a perfect 0-0.

My 2017 Major League Baseball opening went the same way it does every year — it was perfect, the Mets beat the Braves 6-0. The two teams play again on Wednesday and Thursday and I’ll be watching.

Major League Baseball is back, the New York Mets are back, heck, even the darn Braves are back. What could be better? Nothing, nothing at all.

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