Life begins on Opening Day

by northstar at 06:54 PM on April 03, 2002

Life always looks better on Opening Day, and it certainly did yesterday. For the first time ever, I had tickets to Opening Day. Susan and I went to see the Astros play the Brewers (my brother Mark’s team) at the baseball cathedral that is “Your Name Here” Field. For three hours, (almost) everything was perfect. The foul lines were as straight as Jerry Falwell, the grass as green as what heaven surely looks like. OK, so the Astros got their butts handed to them 9-3. There wasn’t much drama, not after Milwaukee scored three runs in the top of the first inning, but it was still fun. Richie Sexson hit a home run that left the stadium and landed on Crawford Street. At least I think it landed….

Opening Day is always a sign of hope, that things are still right with the world. Even the Expos are still in contention- not that they’ll be able to say that much longer. There is something renewing and refreshing about sitting in the stands watching and talking about a game I worshipped as a young boy. The beginning of each season is sort of like the first day of school, only without the bitchy teacher. Everything looks promising, the popcorn tastes better, and even the nachos look good (and you know that can’t last).

For three hours, I could forget about being unemployed, forget about money problems, forget about everything, really, and just enjoy the certainty and beauty of the game, and the smells of the ballpark. Can it get any better?

OK, so the Astros won’t go undefeated. The good news is that the Twins won their opener, hitting three home runs in the top of the first to beat Kansas City 8-6. Hope still springs eternal. Now, if we could just figure out what the heck happened to Wade Miller yesterday….