HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL
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Dedication To our Leighs and all of the women in our homes.
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This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoncommercialShare Alike 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
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Table of Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 About Baseballisms ................................................................................................ 3 About this Collection ............................................................................................. 4 Essays ...................................................................................................................... 5 Bill Miller ........................................................................................................... 5 Verdun2 .............................................................................................................. 12 Floyd Sullivan .................................................................................................... 14 Nicole Demetrak ............................................................................................... 17 Opening Day 2010 New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox ............................................................. 19 Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals................................................ 23 Florida Marlins vs. New York Mets................................................................... 29 St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds............................................................ 33 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates...................................................... 37 Cleveland Indians vs. Chicago White Sox......................................................... 41 Toronto Blue Jays vs. Texas Rangers.................................................................. 45 Colorado Rockies vs. Milwaukee Brewers......................................................... 49 Chicago Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves........................................................................ 53 Detroit Tigers vs. Kansas City Royals............................................................... 59 San Diego Padres vs. Arizona Diamondbacks................................................... 63 San Francisco Giants vs. Houston Astros.......................................................... 67 Minnesota Twins vs. Los Angeles Angels.......................................................... 71 Seattle Mariners vs. Oakland Athletics.............................................................. 75 Baltimore Orioles vs. Tampa Bay Rays.............................................................. 79
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Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers................................................................. 83 Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles........................................................... 87 San Diego Padres vs. Colorado Rockies............................................................ 91 Atlanta Braves vs. San Francisco Giants............................................................ 95 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Florida Marlins.........................................................
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Texas Rangers vs. Cleveland Indians................................................................. 103 Milwaukee Brewers vs. Chicago Cubs............................................................... 107 Washington Nationals vs. Philadelphia Phillies ............................................... 111 Boston Red Sox vs. Minnesota Twins............................................................... 115 Houston Astros vs. St. Louis Cardinals............................................................ 119 Atlanta Braves vs. San Diego Padres.................................................................. 123 Oakland Athletics vs. Seattle Mariners............................................................. 127 Chicago White Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays........................................................ 131 Yankees Opening Day Rollcall.......................................................................... 135 Los Angeles Angels vs. New York Yankees......................................................
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Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers............................................ 143 Next at Baseballisms.............................................................................................. 147 Give Back................................................................................................................ 148 Conclusion............................................................................................................. 149
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Introduction Is there a more hopeful day on the calendar than Opening Day? After an off season of Hot Stoves and League Meetings, it is time to get on the field and face a batter in the heat of competition. Fans of every Major League team have assessed the pros and cons of their rosters and those of their rivals. The standings have been reset from the previous year and we start anew ..
In 1784 Alexander Pope published his Essay on Man, with this famous line in Epistle 1
Hope springs eternal in the human breast; The proverb is quoted each Spring, as the fan base heartily believes that there is hope, and this is the year the team delivers a pennant. It is within this context of blooming exuberance that Opening Day has also come to represent a great North American celebration. Rituals and traditions have been born of this day in early April, when fans are reacquainted with the consistent pace, and unexpected dramas of the game of baseball. Here at Baseballisms, we want to take some time to recognize the joy of each Home Opener across the League, as well as share some stories that have been provided to us, reflecting upon Opening Days past.
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If one of your Twitter messages appears on these pages, we are so glad to have made your acquaintance! We certainly share your passion for the game of baseball. This Collection is intended to honor your wisdom plus celebrate the era in which we live, when individuals in diverse geographic locations can share directly with one another. We intend to protect and preserve this document so that it may act as a small representation of a moment in time, a time capsule if you will, displaying the expressions of joy brought about by baseball in this digital age. We heartily thank those of you who responded to our requests for submissions. The greatness of a community is measured by the willingness to share with each other. At Baseballisms.com, we are just conduits for connecting the most passionate of fans, and look forward to continuing with this calling.
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About Baseballisms Baseballisms.com is a community of baseball fans dedicated to sharing and preserving personal baseball stories, in a way that they will retain a sense of immortality. A Baseballism is a fan’s content. It can be written, texted, recorded in audio or video .. all capturing the very essence of what it means to be passionate about the game of baseball. It can be short form tweets or they can be long form as presented on the web site Baseballisms.com. Everyone has plenty of their own Baseballisms - whether a fond remembrance from playing the game as a Little Leaguer or watching a ballgame today with a grandparent, something about the game of baseball triggers an emotional response. We want to provide an outlet for these gems so that they are passed from person to person, generation to generation. Capturing and sharing these sentiments is what Baseballisms.com is all about. Baseballisms.com is a web site developed by true fans of the game, Joe Magennis and Cameron Watson. Dedicated to collecting the poetry of the game. We are building a community with a fine appreciation for the way in which baseball weaves throughout all of our life stories.
CAMERON
JOE
MAGENNIS BASEBALLISMS
WATSON BASEBALLISMS
PRODUCER
You can follow us on Twitter @Baseballisms and @CoolPapaC. Also become a Facebook Fan of the Baseballisms Fan page.
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CREATIVE
About this Collection On the heels of our first ebook .. The 2009 Playoff Collection; True Fans’ Commentary in 140 Characters, we felt that our next Collection should contain some longer form essays, photos, possibly even video, as well as a sample of the Twitter comments that were so well received in the first ebook. We were hoping to build up this Collection with real time messages plus historical essays directed towards us. We knew of some specific friends who we wanted to include in the ebook, and reached out with some ideas for content. However, as the book started to come together we realized that there would not be enough of a representation of the broad, joyous occasion of Opening Day without the archive of Twitter content from the Home Openers across the Major Leagues. We decided to capture 30 tweets for 30 teams as a way to present the spirit of Opening Day. We took advantage of a new feature that Google implemented in their search results where they have indexed the entire Twitter archives. By searching via the Updates tab and the sliding timeline, we can re-visit the exclamations of excitement leading up to each team taking the field in their home ballpark. So this Collection has turned out to be a retrospective look back at the start of the 2010 Season, with a few essays of Opening Days past. The messages that we captured represent a broad spectrum of the way in which fans participated in the Opening Day excitement. Some are from fans at the ballpark, some are from fans at home in front of the television, while many were commenting from work or school. There were certain games when the sense of the excitement was apparent from the messages leading up to the start of the ballgame, while in other cases, it was what happened on the field during the game that tells the story. Many of the messages that we reviewed contained Twitpics or other links to pictures. We debated whether or not to include these published images in the Collection. The images were great depictions of the events taking place and were quite worthy of including in a book about Opening Day, but we decided that it might be intrusive? improper? ... whatever the correct word is ... to include them here. We did not want to overstep our bounds where it might be considered inappropriate to include them,
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even though they are openly published on a public platform. What do you think? We would really be interested in hearing your feedback on this. Is it appropriate for a collection by the people and for the people to contain pictures that have been previously shared by the owner? We would also like to make the point that in these large facilities it is extremely challenging to access consistent internet connectivity. We know that many people, including ourselves, could not share the experience in real time with those who might have an interest. Let’s throw down the challenge to all of the ballparks, MLB, and cell carriers to address this situation in advance of next season. Although there might be some debate among the interested parties whether it is a good thing to have patrons looking into a cellular device while the event is going on live in front of them, it is unquestionably an achievement to have a devoted customer/fan base passionate enough about the experience that they are compelled to share it with others. It is every marketers dream to have a consumer willing to spread the word! Somebody get on this please..... Finally, as we mentioned in the first ebook and continue to see developing, there is a real passionate community of baseball fans developing on social networks. By participating in this community we get to know people from all across the globe. It is awe inspiring to realize that we can befriend a fellow Red Sox fan in the Ruhr region of Germany, or an Expos fan in New Brunswick, with just the power of the devices we hold in our hands. This collection is meant to inspire others to join in this revolution, create a profile and share in the camaraderie. If you see a message here that inspires you or motivates you to connect, go ahead, reach out to that person, we highly recommend it! Just don’t forget to tell them where you found it! It’s time to get into Opening Day, as broadcasting icon Vin Scully would suggest;
Pull Up A Chair!
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Essays FROM BILL MILLER Bill is the author of The On Deck Circle blog. He traded his stack of homemade baseball cards for a single Topps 1976 Del Unser card back in the mid-seventies, and has been following his passion ever since. Check out the great series he has produced on The Best Forgotten Baseball Seasons.
Opening Day 1977 A Swan Song for the Mets
- Bill Miller
The school year, mercifully, was just about over. Not that I’d had a bad year. In fact, I ended up being Salutatorian for my eighthgrade class, and was presented with more awards on Graduation Day than any other student. The high point of my life, if you ask my mother, who still drags that event out in mixed company about once a year. 3 But school was school, a means to an end. And what, in particular, was that “end,” you ask? Summer vacation, of course. And more importantly, the next baseball season. At 13 years old, with eighth-grade slipping away into a sticky morass of Kiss albums, pop rocks, and baseball cards, I knew somewhere in my skinny, white-boy soul, that even scarier trials awaited me in the Catholic high school I would be attending in the coming fall. No longer would I be King of the Hill in a Junior High School context; I would be just another 9th grade dweeb staking out my turf in an I.P.S. class, praying that a bigger kid wouldn’t force my shaking hand over a scalding-hot Bunsen-burner.
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Ah, but for one more summer, I would still have my beloved Mets. And Tom Seaver would always, I believed, like a trusted scout through a dangerous wilderness, be there to guide me. Every batter he struck out was another snarling locker-room punk vanquished. Every shutout, a teacher left speechless by my clever verbal rejoinder. Every Cy Young Award, a reason not to take out the trash. Seaver lived in ritzy, old-money Greenwich, Connecticut, about a half hour’s drive south of Bridgeport, the ugly, decaying industrial town where I was born and raised. In more than one way, then, he and I lived worlds apart. He was clever; I was quiet. He was rich, I was working-class. He was successful; I was a thirteen year-old boy who constantly double-dribbled in gym class. But on this day, this Glorious Day of Days, Opening Day, Tom Seaver and I would share an afternoon together, courtesy of WOR-TV, Channel 9, from New York City. And although I had absolutely no reason to be confident at all regarding my own immediate future, I felt good about the Mets’ chances for a successful 1977 season. After all, they had finished a respectable 86-76 in the tough N.L. East the year before, and both Seaver and Jerry Koosman, who had finished second in the Cy Young voting to Randy Jones, would be returning. Sure, the Mets had made a bone-head trade swapping Rusty Staub for Mickey Lolich (!), but they had an up-and-coming young star in Lee Mazzilli (The Italian Stallion) and the very dangerous, enigmatic Dave “King Kong” Kingman. So, after another largely forgettable day of school, I wanted nothing more than to get home, turn on my parents’ T.V., and catch as much Opening Day action as I could. As I slid my key into the back door of 588 Colorado Ave., dropped my schoolbooks on the floor, then headed through the kitchen into the living room, I was in a pretty good mood. I knew Seaver would be pitching Opening Day again, as always, and I knew that would bode well for a Mets victory. I also knew that once my father got home from work, it would be the end of my
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baseball game. He hated baseball, and certainly wouldn’t tolerate a baseball game being broadcast on his T.V. set. I’d have better luck trying to sneak a bad report card by him than ever see him walk into the living room and ask, with serious interest, “So what’s the score? Seaver pitching well?” Seaver, as it turned out, was pitching well. Pitching in the chill, early April air at Wrigley Field, he had little trouble with the Chicago Cubs lineup. I remember being surprised that former Yankee Bobby Murcer was out there in the Cubs outfield. I’d lost track of him once he was traded to the Giants for Bobby Bonds. Never a Yankee fan, I still liked Bobby Murcer, as did most little boys in my region, Yankee fans or not. John Stearns, the Mets’ new young catcher, seemed to be handling Seaver pretty well. Seaver was mowing down the Cubbies line-up without much trouble. In just a few short minutes, as I sat on the couch eating cheese puffs and drinking a Dr. Pepper, I was completely absorbed by the action playing out on my parents’ old black and white T.V. At some point, my little brother came home from school, wandered into the living room, sat down for a few minutes, then turned around and left. I don’t remember if he said anything to me, or if I would have heard him speak even if he did. Seaver’s pitching. Shut up. By the end of the sixth inning, I remember having to go to the bathroom. But one of my superstitions about watching a game is that once you start watching it, you can’t get up to go to the bathroom. It’s something that needs to be taken care of before the game begins. Unfortunately, by the time I walked home from school, the game had already begun. It was too late now. I would just have to hold it. Ominously, I noticed the slanting afternoon light outside, often a harbinger of my dad’s imminent arrival from work. Damn it, Tom! Hurry up and get these guys out! My bladder and my dad would not tolerate this game going much beyond four o’clock. Stupidly, the over-eager catcher Stearns was thrown out twice trying to steal. 9
Meanwhile, Bobby Murcer managed to swipe a base off Stearns. Not a good start to the year for this young catcher. Meanwhile, Seaver gave up a homer to some guy named Ontiveros. No reason to panic. After all, this was Wrigley Field, home of the wind-blown, wiffle-ball home run. Eventually, Seaver exited after seven innings with a 5-3 lead, having struck out his usual batter an inning. Completely out of snack food, my bladder aching, my dad still not home from work, Mets fire-balling reliever Skip Lockwood then entered the game, pitching both the eighth and ninth innings for the save (no eighth inning set-up specialists in those days.) At that point, I could not have foreseen that Tom Seaver had just pitched his final Opening Day as a member of the Mets (that is, until they re-acquired him several years later.) The Mets brass, spurred on by the jealous, predatory sports columnist Dick Young, would shockingly trade Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds on June 17, 1977. And, on that same day, the Mets sent their best power hitter, Dave Kingman, to the Padres. That this happened during the same week that my eighth-grade school year ended was not a good harbinger for summer vacation, and indeed, watching the Mets go 64-98 that summer filled me with nothing but sadness and dread. After such a promising start, the Mets ended up finishing in last place in ’77, 37 games behind the Phillies. But for one last, glorious Opening Day, Tom Seaver, the Mets, and the eighth grade still allowed me to feel like a secure, if not overly-confident little boy, my cosmos fixed and predictable. By the time my dad got home from work, mom was already making dinner in the kitchen. The ball game was already over, and the T.V. was safely off. He came into the living room where I was still sitting, reading the backs of some of my baseball cards. “How was school today?”
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“O.K.” “Got any homework?” “Yeah, a little bit.” It never occurred to me to ask him about his days laboring in the factory, even after a work-buddy of his was blown up one day in a tragic accident. There was no mention of Opening Day. No sharing in the joy of victory. I ate dinner, did my homework, and went to sleep, mercifully oblivious to the future horrors of ninth-grade, working for a living, or the near-future of the New York Mets. The dismal Craig Swan years would in fact uncannily mirror my own lost-in-thewilderness adolescent phase that lasted until about the mid-1980’s. But even after all these years, I still remember fondly that one shining spring afternoon watching Tom Seaver pitch, his right knee dragging in the dirt in his followthrough, as I pressed my fist to my groin, trying not to pee on the floor. I survived high school, but in the years that have followed, none of the magic of Opening Day has dissipated. I still catch myself, while tossing the ball back and forth with my son, trying a little to emulate Seaver’s pitching style. My boy, nearing his seventh birthday, now inhabits the cocoon of warmth and safety that used to be mine. But on Opening Day this year, the Mets, behind Johan Santana, won 7-1, creating yet another magical memory for all of us older kids who just can’t quite grow up.
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FROM VERDUN2 Verdun2 writes a baseball blog at Verdun’s Blog. Check out his excellent series detailing the entire 1910 season as we celebrate it’s Centennial. http://verdun2.wordpress.com/
Opening Saturday When I was a kid, Opening Day meant nothing to me. Heck, I was in school when the baseball season started. My teacher insisted I sit and learn something instead of go home and listen to the radio. For instance, she wanted me to learn history (there was a lot less of it back then) and English, and penmanship. Then there was homework (Any of you remember homework?). By the time I was done, the games were over and all I got was the scores on the evening sportscast. Big deal. But, Opening Saturday was different. I lived with my grandparents and Granddad was a baseball fan. He loved the Cardinals and I was a Dodgers fan (don’t ask). He was absolutely certain that Stan Musial was the greatest player since Alexander Cartwright invented the game. “That fella in Boston is OK, but Musial can do anything and do it well,” he’d say. And me? I loved Jackie Robinson. By the mid-1950s he was no longer the best Brooklyn player (both Duke Snider and Roy Campanella were better), but he still made the team go and I wanted to be him. Somebody finally reminded me that he had a much deeper tan than I, so I decided I’d become the light Jackie Robinson. Turns out I didn’t. The centerpiece of the day was the afternoon game of the week. There were two on Saturday afternoon, one on CBS and the other on NBC. We’d turn on the TV, see who was playing, pick the game we wanted, then settle down to watch the magic box in the corner. I think there was a rule back then that TV’s had to be in the corner of the room. I didn’t know anyone whose TV was anywhere else. We had a couple of rules. First, Grandma had to leave us alone. She would fuss around the house telling us we were lazy louts, then go off to sew, or read, or go next door and visit with another baseball widow. We could have cared less because we had two games to watch. That was the second rule. When the commercial breaks came
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on, we could change the channel and see how the other game was going. This was back when TV’s had knobs (You remember knobs?) and Granddad would leap up at “And now a word from our sponsors”, flip the channel, and God help the network if the other game was also in commercial (I didn’t know Granddad knew those kinds of words.). The third rule was that you couldn’t change channel if either the Cardinals or the Dodgers were playing, especially if they were playing each other. I wasn’t sure, but I had the feeling that changing the channel in this circumstance somehow involved sin and hell and damnation. When the game ended, Granddad would cut off the TV then start telling me about baseball when he was younger. He’d seen Walter Johnson in an exhibition game somewhere along the line and listened to Babe Ruth on the radio. He never bought off on that geezer idea that somehow the players were all better when he was a kid. He liked and admired the old-time players, but he recognized the greatness of the new generation. “That Mays kid looks like he’s gonna be real good,” he’d tell me, “but that kid pitcher, Drysdale, your Dodgers got seems a little wild.” And what he thought about Koufax’s wildness was not to be repeated around Grandma. Of course none of them was Musial and that was all there was to it. About five Grandma would call us for dinner. We always had leftovers on Saturday night. She called it cleaning out the fridge for the new week. Grandma claimed not to like baseball and knew we were lazy louts, but there was fried chicken. Every Opening Saturday there was fried chicken, every time. Granddad would always ask “What’s for dinner?” and her reply was always “We had some extra chicken so I just fried it up for tonight.” He’d wink at me as we went into the kitchen. It took a few years to catch the joke.
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From Floyd Sullivan Floyd is the author of Waiting for the Cubs, is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. He is a writer and photographer who lives in Chicago. He attended his first Cubs game at Wrigley Field in 1958 and has been going ever since, often getting standing room tickets when that is all he could afford. You can follow him at his blog - Waiting4Cubs.com You can also view images from his 2010 Opening Day
Opening Day weather for April 8, 1969 was forecasted to be in the mid-sixties and cloudy, a fine day for baseball especially considering that it was early April in Chicago. More often than not proper attire for the first Cub home game includes a winter coat, stocking hat, scarf, gloves and long underwear. Opening Days 1974 and 1975 were snowed out. I went to Opening Day 1988 with colleague Mark Fusello, who had just started his own business, and the temperature was 44° at game time. By the fourth inning it felt positively arctic. I dressed for spring weather and throughout the game Mark had to lend me gloves or his hat to keep one of his first clients from freezing to death. Strains of “Bear down, Chicago Bears” could be heard in the crowd. But not 1969, so it was a no-brainer for a fellow student and I to cut classes at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, “Circle” for short and now called just the University of Illinois at Chicago, and head for the ballpark. I figured we’d sit in the bleachers where it would be a bit warmer in the sun. No problem getting in because there was almost never a problem getting into Wrigley Field and sitting just about anywhere you wanted. Opening Day 1968 had been crowded at 33,875, but not sold out. Only 16,462 attended Opening Day 1967, and 15,369 in 1966. So it was with confidence that we hopped in my 1968 Mustang (white with a blue houndstooth roof and a 298 V8 gas-guzzling engine – the fastest car I’ve ever driven) and took Lake Shore Drive north. The first sign that it would perhaps not be so easy to get in was the backup at the Belmont exit. I decided to continue north to Irving Park Road and double back into the Wrigley Field neighborhood. To this day it’s easier to get to the ballpark exiting LSD at Irving. The next clue that the crowd would be substantial was the parking problem. I could find no street parking within several blocks of Wrigley Field, unheard of for a week-
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day afternoon in those days, so I paid for parking at the Shell Station at the corner of Addison and Halsted, across the street from the Twenty-third Police District Station and a lot I was familiar with because it was my Dad’s favorite place to park for Bear games during the years they played at Wrigley Field. Fans jammed the sidewalks around the park. The bleachers were sold out. In 1969 bleacher seats (one dollar each) were put on sale day-of-game only, first come first served. This remained Wrigley Field policy until the Tribune Company bought the Cubs in the 1980’s and made bleacher tickets available in advance. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the crowd, but the idea of a good Cub team took some getting used to. Hopes ran high in 1969. The young players brought on in the mid-sixties had matured. Don Kessinger at shortstop, Glenn Beckert at second, Randy Hundley behind the plate, Adolpho Phillips in center and pitchers Fergie Jenkins, Joe Niekro and Bill Hands, combined with veterans Billie Williams in left, Ernie Banks at first and Ron Santo at third for a solid lineup both at the plate and in the field. Leo Durocher had taken them from a 55-103 public embarrassment in 1966, a record-tying low and depressing even for Cub fans who are used to grim won-lost records, to a third place, 87-74 finish in 1967, one of the most stunning turnarounds in club history and an event that made Durocher the toast of Chicago and the baseball world. In 1968 they finished third again with a winning record for an unheard of two years in a row. My friend and I made our way around the park to the Clark Street ticket windows only to find that the game was a complete sellout, so we settled for standing room, the first time ever for me, and found a couple of spots on a crowded upper deck ramp above the grandstands between the plate and first base. Seeing Wrigley Field this crowded (paid attendance: 40,796; capacity: 36,644) was so odd that we as much reveled in the experience as enjoyed the game at first, especially since the Phillies scored a run in the top of the first inning to take an early lead. But then Ernie Banks hit a three-run homer in the bottom half of the inning and we were into the game, as was the huge crowd. And then in his second trip to the plate he hit another one, this time for two runs. By mid-game the Cubs seemed in total control, leading 5-1. Starting pitcher Fergie Jenkins was cruising along, striking out six through six innings. He gave up a solo shot to Don Money in the seventh, but then settled back in, struck out three more Phillies and took the mound in the top of the ninth with a comfortable 5-2 lead.
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No beginning to any sports season ever, in my memory, felt as exhilarating. Was this a sign of things to come for the season? Were the Cubs to be this good all year? No one under the age of forty could remember anything like it. But then in the top of the ninth Cub reality brought the crowd back down to earth. Fergie couldn’t get anyone out. The first two batters reached on singles, bringing up Don Money. Surely Fergie would get him this time, we thought. But Money connected for his second homer of the day and all of a sudden the game was tied and our dreams of grandeur were squelched. Long time Cub fans smelled an Opening Day tragedy in the works, a potential loss that could signal a franchise relapse to mediocrity-as-usual. Many left when the Cubs failed to score in the bottom of the ninth, even though the game had breezed right along and was barely two hours old. We took advantage of this by grabbing vacated lower grandstand seats in the section immediately below us, and settled in for extra innings. We could now see the sky and the center field scoreboard! And anything could happen, right? After all, the Cubs had just had two consecutive winning seasons. Phil Regan had relieved Jenkins after Money’s homer and kept the Phillies hitless through the rest of the ninth inning and the tenth. But in the top of the eleventh, Money (again!) doubled home John Callison from second giving the Phillies a onerun lead. A lot more fans left, although it still looked crowded. We ventured down into the upper boxes, just above the Phillies on-deck circle, for whatever was left of the impending fiasco. The crowd’s mood was gloomy at best and surly at worst. Banks led off the Cubs half of the eleventh. They needed one to tie and two to win. Ernie was thirty-eight years old and nowhere near his peak strength of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. But he already had two home runs and a single in the game and had batted in all five Cub runs, so he was exactly the guy we wanted to see step into the batter’s box. And he did connect, and from our vantage point low in the stands when the ball left his bat it looked to have a shot at leaving the yard as it sailed toward Sheffield Avenue. But the cheers morphed into groans as the ball died and was pulled in by Phillies right fielder Callison. The Cubs had gone down one-two-three in both the ninth and the tenth and it felt like the eleventh would be more of the same with the lower half of the lineup due to bat after Banks. Catcher Randy Hundley stepped up to the plate with no hits in three official at-bats, although he had been on base twice,
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once on an error and once when he was hit by a pitch. The crowd grew silent. But Hundley came through with a base hit and represented the tying run at first with one out. Right fielder Jim Hickman was due up. It felt like a game-ending double play waiting to happen. Hickman was 0 for 4. Durocher opted to send Willie Smith in to pinch hit. Smith was a substitute, journeyman outfielder who had batted a respectable .275 in only 142 at-bats after coming to the Cubs in 1968. But he got all of Phillies’ relief pitcher Barry Lersch’s first pitch and sent it toward the right-center field bleachers. The crowd jumped to its feet and when it landed beyond the wall pandemonium ruled. The Cubs jumped out of the third base dugout and mobbed Smith as he crossed the plate with the winning run. Final score: Cubs 7, Phillies 6. And, as the lyrics to “Hey Hey, Holy Mackerel” suggested, the Cubs were on their way. They went on to win their first four games and eleven of their first twelve, going 16-7 for the month of April, 1969.
From Friend Nicole Demetrak Nicole Demetrak on Twitter at @ElliNSweeneyD On March 21st 2009, four Oakland Police Officers were shot and killed in the line of duty and the city of Oakland was deeply affected. On opening night at the Coliseum, April 10th vs the Seattle Mariners, the families of the slain officers took part in a very moving presentation which included a large group of motorcycle cops driving around the warning track and out around the infield. After presenting jerseys to the family members by four players, a moment of silence was held in memory of the four victims. After which, a few fans began chanting O-P-D and it quickly caught until the whole Coliseum was chanting as a single unit. The effect could clearly be seen on the officers on the field as well as in tears in the eyes of nearly every fan. In a city that has such a negative reputation around the nation, it’s true nature was represented that night. Four officers who had all at some point worked games in Oakland, watched like fans with the fans, loved this team and this city, and continued to protect all of Oakland, lost their lives and the city mourned them. The A’s ended up losing that game, but the loss of the lives of four Oakland sons was the only loss in the minds of the fans throughout that night and into today.
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Opening Day 2010
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New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox April 4, 2010 . Red Sox 9 / Yankees 7
The start of the Major League Baseball season has changed from the traditional Cincinnati afternoon opening, to a Sunday Night affair as presented by ESPN. This year’s opening featured the powerhouse rivals of the AL East. After a ceremonial first pitch from a battery that delivered the Red Sox a World Series Championship in 2004, Pedro Martinez and Jason Varitek, it was Josh Beckett to face C.C. Sabathia to kick off the season. Big scoring early off of Beckett had the Sox down 5 - 1, but they battled back against Sabathia with a Kevin Youkilis two run triple, and a game tying two run homer by Dustin Pedroia in the 7th. The final run of the game scored off a single by Pedroia in the 8th to wrap up a 9 - 7 Opening Day win.
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Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals April 5, 2010 . Phillies 11 / Nationals 1
A big 11 - 1 road win for the defending National League Champions in the Nation’s Capital. President Obama did the ceremonial duties that date back to President Taft in Griffith Stadium one-hundred years ago. On this day, the President took the field in a jacket with a Washington script W .. but surprised the crowd by breaking out a cap with his beloved Chicago White Sox logo on it. The Nationals crowd was treated to an awards ceremony in which Ryan Zimmerman received his Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards, but they knew they had their hands full sending starter John Lannan out against the newest addition to the Phillies, Roy Halladay. After giving up a first inning RBI double to Zimmerman, Halladay cruised through seven solid innings while the Nationals bullpen struggled.
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From Friend Kelly @KChristine who attended Opening Day in Washington:
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Florida Marlins vs. New York Mets April 5, 2010 . Mets 7 / Marlins 1
Johan Santana took the ball for the 5th time on Opening Day, his third as a Met, to face NL East opponent the Florida Marlins and their young ace Josh Johnson. Ceremonial honors were given to two regulars of the 1980’s lineups Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson. It did not take long for the crowd at Citi Field to have something to cheer about, as David Wright homered in the bottom of the first to give the Mets a 2 - 0 lead. That’s all that was needed actually as Santana, Fernando Nieve and Francisco Rodriquez combined for a 7 - 1 win. Newcomers Jason Bay, Gary Mathews Jr. and Rod Barajas each endeared themselves to the fans with two hits apiece in the opener.
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St. Louis Cardinals vs.
Cincinnati Reds April 5, 2010 . Cardinals 11 / Reds 6
It’s hard to top an Opening Day in Cincy and the pageantry associated with celebrating baseball’s oldest professional franchise never fails. The festivities included the annual Findlay Market parade, this year featuring Hall of Famer The Twins hadastothe jump on aMarshall plane after Tigers in their one game Johnny Bench Grand anddispensing concludedthe with retired broadcaster playoff, and fly todoing Newthe York to take the Yankees a late afternoon ballgame. As George Grande honors ofon tossing the firstinpitch. the Twins prepare to close the Metrodome, the Yankees christen their brand new stadium with postseason baseball. The out early off of for C.C. In the top of the first, Albert Pujols hit Twins one ofjumped many 2010 homeruns theSabathia, but Derek Jeter got things support back to even withby a home in the who thirdalso inning. Cardinals, with additional provided Colbyrun Rasmus, made a great catch robbing Scott Rolen of his second homerun of the ballgame. ARod with two RBI hits, Matsui with a homer and Nick Swisher with a run scoring double wasbehind more than enough to countered start the Yankees on Votto their playoff journey The Reds Aaron Harang with Joey and Scott Rolenunder going skipper Joe Girardi. back to back in the fourth off of Chris Carpenter, before Yadier Molina really put the game out of reach for the Cardinals with a grand slam in the top of the ninth. This was also the first Opening Day appearance on the field in nine years for Cardinals hitting coach Mark McGwire.
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Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates April 5, 2010 . Pirates 11 / Dodgers 5
The opening day crowd at PNC park, the first Pittsburgh opener at home since 2005, were treated to a major offensive attack versus the defending NL West Champions. Garrett Jones jump started things in the first with a shot that cleared the rightfield bleachers and bounced into the Allegheny River for the first of two long balls in his first two at bats of the season. Zach Duke limited the Dodgers lineup to 2 earned runs in 5 innings, easily besting his surprising Opening Day opponent Vincente Padilla. Manager Joe Torre had to defend his selection of Padilla in lieu of Clayton Kershaw. Torre felt it was early in Kershaw’s career to be labeling him as the staff ace. In pre-game ceremonies, Pirates Minor League manager Woody Huyke was presented with the organization’s annual Pride of the Pirates Award, recognizing a member of the organization who has demonstrated the qualities of sportsmanship, dedication and outstanding character during a lifetime of service. Huyke has served the Pirates organization for 41 seasons.
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Cleveland Indians vs.
Chicago White Sox April 5, 2010 . White Sox 6 / Indians 0
The recap of this game begins and ends with Mark Buehrle. By setting the standard for the defensive play of the year in the very first game of the season, the White Sox starting pitcher created a year long meme. Quality defensive plays were ranked on the “Buehrle Scale”. This was also a franchise record setting start for Buehrle, as he took the ball for his eighth Opening Day start. Buehrle was helped out immensely by his long time teammate Paul Konerko, who continues his own record streak of 10 straight opening day starts at first base. Konerko homered in the first inning and then made a barehanded catch for the putout on the back end of The Play. The day was also memorable in the storied legacy of the Cleveland Indians, as it was the 70th Anniversary celebration of Bob Feller’s Opening Day no-hitter versus the White Sox. That 1 - 0 win in Comiskey Park in 1940 still stands as the only Opening Day no-hitter in MLB history.
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Toronto Blue Jays vs.
Texas Rangers April 5, 2010 . Rangers 5 / Blue Jays 4
For the first six innings of this game it was nervous excitement for Rangers fans, as the home team was unable to get a hit off of Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum. They were unaware that they were about to witness the first Opening Day walkoff win for the Rangers since 1980, as Jarrod Saltalamacchia finished off a two run rally in the bottom of the ninth with a bases loaded single in the gap. Outfielder Nelson Cruz was the big offensive star for the Rangers going 2 for 4 with four RBI, with a homerun and game tying double in the ninth inning rally.
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Colorado Rockies vs.
Milwaukee Brewers April 5, 2010 . Rockies 5 / Brewers 3
To honor the 40th season of The Brewers arriving in Milwaukee, the team sent the original battery of Lew Krause and Jerry McNertney on to the diamond to throw the ceremonial first pitch. The Brewers lost to the California Angels 12 - 0 in that first ballgame. This year’s team came up short as well, facing off against Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez in front of the second largest crowd in Miller Park history. The home fans had a fine pitching performance of their own as Yovani Gallardo pitched seven innings, scattering 7 hits and giving up 4 runs, 3 of them earned. Offensively, Carlos Gomez gave Brewers fans something to be excited about, going 4 for 5 in his first game since coming over from the Twins, including a two out homerun in the seventh inning.
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Chicago Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves April 5, 2010 . Braves 16 / Cubs 5
It was a highly anticipated day at Turner Field as the home team paid tribute to Manager Bobby Cox as he began his final season as a big league skipper. After a 29 season, Hall of Fame caliber career, the four time NL Manager of the Year is attempting to take the Braves to the playoffs one last time. The fans were also there to see the debut of highly touted rookie outfielder Jason Heyward, and they were not disappointed! After doing the honors of the ceremonial first pitch with Braves legend Hank Aaron, the 20 year old blasted a mammoth home run into the bullpen in right field during his first major league at bat. It was as memorable a moment at a baseball game as anyone could ever experience. Cameron and I, along with his brother Chris were in attendance that day. We had spent the early afternoon in the Chop House, and as the game started we made our way to our seats in the upper deck along the third base line. Derek Lowe had been touched up by the Cubs for 3 runs in the first, but the Braves had come back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. With two runners on, Heyward came to the plate as the ballpark buzzed with anticipation ... with his very first swing of the bat, the place erupted! There is no better way to describe that collective explosion of 50,000 people. Everyone had seen what they had hoped would happen, and it created an atmosphere that was as electric as those post season days in Fulton County Stadium. We dished out high-fives with every person within arm’s reach, and kept yelling at each other, “You were here when it happened! You will be able to say you were here when he hit his first home run!” ... expectations are high for Jason Heyward, and there are times when you really hope they do come true. 53
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Detroit Tigers vs.
Kansas City Royals April 5, 2010 . Tigers 8 / Royals 4
Opening Day is just a little bit more exciting when you send the defending Cy Young Award winner to the mound to kick off the new season. Zack Greinke allowed only 2 runs on 6 hits during 6 innings of work, but watched as the bullpen was lit up for another 6 runs following his departure. The Kaufmann Stadium crowd of over 40,000 was provided some early offensive fireworks as Yuniesky Betancourt homered off of Jason Verlander in the bottom of the second, to put the Royals up 2 - 1 early. They expanded the lead in the 5th to 4 - 1 when Billy Butler got a two-run single, before the Tigers offense exploded with 7 unanswered runs. Newly elected Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog threw out the first pitch. On the receiving end was his former player and fellow Hall of Famer George Brett. Herzog managed the Royals from 1975 through 1979, winning the American League Western Division three of those years.
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San Diego Padres vs. Arizona Diamondbacks April 5, 2010 . Diamondbacks 6 / Padres 3
You’ve got your two RBI hits like Miguel Montero’s single in the first inning. You’ve got your two RBI homers like Mark Reynold’s bomb off John Garland in the third, but how about a two RBI inside-the-park home run like Stephen Drew’s in the fourth, to make your Opening Day memorable! It was the second year in a row that a major leaguer had an inside-the-park home run on Opening Day. Emilio Bonifacio had one for the Florida Marlins last opening day, a span of 41 years from the previous one. Six runs was plenty of offense for the Diamondbacks starter Dan Haren, who three hit the Padres through his 7 innings of work.
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San Francisco Giants vs. Houston Astros April 5, 2010 . Giants 5 / Astros 2
Like most Opening Day matchups, the top of the rotation pitching on this night is unquestioned. It does not get much better than a ticket to see Tim Lincecum versus Roy Oswalt amid the pageantry of a new baseball season. Oswalt, taking the ball for his eighth consecutive Opening Day start, took the loss while effectively pitching 6 innings giving up 3 runs. Meanwhile Lincecum allowed just 4 hits in 7 innings, with 7 strikeouts. It was a day of new beginnings in Houston as it marked the managerial debut of Brad Mills, who was introduced prior to the game at a fan’s rally by Astros hierarchy including Drayton McLane, Tal Smith, and Ed Wade.
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Minnesota Twins vs. Los Angeles Angels April 5, 2010 . Angels 6 / Twins 3
It was a day to recognize the 2009 American League Western Division Champs, and to raise another banner, but it was also a day to welcome a new look to the Angels starting lineup. The 2009 World Series MVP Hideki Matsui came over from the Yankees in the offseason and immediately made a strong impression on his new team. The new DH had an RBI single in the fifth, and combined with teammate Kendry Morales for back to back homeruns in the eighth. The game started with a nod to the 2002 Championship team as Tim Salmon formed a battery with former teammate Scot Shields for the ceremonial first pitch. Angels manager Mike Scioscia sent Jered Weaver out for his second Opening Day start against the Twins, this time at home and in front of numerous family members. Weaver delivered a six strikeout start, going six innings and giving up three runs.
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Seattle Mariners vs.
Oakland Athletics April 5, 2010 . Mariners 5 / Athletics 3
Plenty of honors to be recognized at the start of the 2010 season for the Oakland A’s, most notably the 2009 Rookie of the Year award for reliever Andrew Bailey. Bailey recorded 26 saves in his first season of major league action. It was also an Oakland record for Mark Ellis, making his seventh Opening Day start at second base and the 11th Opening Day start for Eric Chavez, second most in team history. Making his first start since 2008, Oakland sent out the big righthander Ben Sheets to face 19 game winner Felix Hernandez. Sheets struggled, giving up four walks and surrendering single runs in the first three innings, but it was just enough to keep his team in the ballgame while they fought to get to King Felix, which they did in the 7th inning. 57 defense that cracked, Heading to the ninth all tied at 3 - 3, it was the Oakland allowing two unearned runs to score. It was the fourth error of the game, leading to a 5 - 3 Mariners victory.
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Baltimore Orioles vs. Tampa Bay Rays April 6, 2010 . Rays 4 / Orioles 3
A two-RBI walkoff double from the bat of outfielder Carl Crawford set off the 2010 Tampa Bay Rays season. The ninth inning defeat would be the start of a trend for Orioles closer Mike Gonzalez. Tampa was only able to muster single runs off Baltimore starter Kevin Millwood in the fifth and sixth innings. The run in the sixth was on an Evan Longoria jack that reached the upper deck in left field, only the second ball in club history to ever reach those seats. With one out in the top of the ninth, Sean Rodriquez singled, followed by a Kelly Shoppach double to put runners on at second and third. The Orioles intentionally walked Jason Bartlett to set up a play at any base, but forcing Gonzalez to face Carl Crawford with one out. Crawford delivered a no doubt base hit, and when the final play at the plate (of many in this game) was completed, the Rays had won their home opener in dramatic style.
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Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers April 9, 2010 . Tigers 5 / Indians 2
Fans in Detroit not only got to enjoy the celebration of a new baseball season, but April 9, 2010 was officially designated in the State Legislature as Ernie Harwell Day! And so as a tip of the cap to the late great Ernie Harwell, we present here the traditional opening lines of his first broadcast of each spring. From Song of Solomon ... “For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.�
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Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles April 9, 2010 . Blue Jays 7 / Orioles 6
It’s hard to believe that it was 40 years ago when Brooks Robinson and Boog Powell were Baltimore heroes, as they took down the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970 World Series ... but there they were throwing out the ceremonial first pitch of the 2010 season opener. It was a great reminder of how important the legacy of this franchise is for Major League Baseball. It was the return of another favorite Oriole, as Miguel Tejada went 3 for 5 with a homer and four runs batted in. Tejada spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons playing for the Houston Astros. Both the Orioles and the Blue Jays jumped out early with three run first innings, and then punched back and forth until the Orioles took a one run lead in the eighth when Felix Pie scored all the way from first on a Cesar Izturis single. All of the good feelings on this day were unfortunately erased when closer Mike Gonzalez continued to have difficulty completing his duties, giving up two runs in the top of the ninth. It was only the second loss for the Orioles in the last ten home openers.
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San Diego Padres vs. Colorado Rockies April 9, 2010 . Rockies 7 / Padres 0
The only thing better than the weather for this day in Denver, was Jorge De La Rosa who pitched a masterful performance on his first Opening Day start, dealing a onehit, nine strikeout gem. RBI hits by Ian Stewart, Todd Helton, and Miguel Olivo, plus a three run homer in the 8th from Clint Barmes were more than enough for De La Rosa on this day. It was the second shutout on Opening Day in Rockies history, and took place in front of a record crowd of 49,509.
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Atlanta Braves vs.
San Francisco Giants April 9, 9, 2010 2010 .. Giants Giants 55 // Braves Braves 44 April
It couldn’t help but feel a little like football around AT&T Park for the home opener of the San Fransisco Giants. Whether it was the team entering as one unit via center field, amid balloons and streamers or the touchdown tandem of Jerry Rice and Steve Young doing the ceremonial honors, the raucous crowd was ultimately treated to an “overtime” win. The Giants were in a long yardage situation throughout the game, down 3 - 0 to Tim Hudson through six innings and down 4 - 2 to Billy Wagner in the ninth. However, Edgar Renteria took Wagner deep with one out, to tie the game and provide the true spectacle of this Opening Day. The Giants withstood a bases loaded jam in the 11th inning, couldn’t score with a runner at third and one out in the 12th, but with two out and Juan Uribe on third in the 13th, Aaron Rowand slid safely into first for an infield single and the game winning RBI. Giants broadcaster Jon Miller, the 2010 Ford C. Frick Award winner, was honored in a video tribute prior to the game.
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Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Florida Marlins April 9, 2010 . Dodgers 7 / Marlins 3
A home opener crowd of 40,666 at Sun Life Stadium saw the latest Hall of Fame inductee Andre Dawson throw out the first pitch of the 2010 season. Fellow Hall of Famer and another Special Assistant to the Marlins, Tony Perez was the backstop for the ceremony. Honors were also bestowed upon Hanley Ramirez for his 2009 NL Batting Crown, and to Chris Coghlan for his Rookie of the Year Award. The Marlins could not figure out the offerings of Dodgers starter Hideki Kuroda, who lasted 8 innings and gave up only one run on five hits, while fanning seven. It was only after Russ Ortiz came on to start the 9th that there was a little excitement. Ortiz put three runners on before Wes Helms hit a two run pinch hit double off of closer Jonathan Broxton. Marlins starter Chris Volstad was effective through six, but couldn’t get through the 7th and after giving up three runs, turned the game over to his bullpen.
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Texas Rangers vs. Cleveland Indians April 12, 2010 . Rangers 4 / Indians 2
Fausto Carmona took the ball for the Tribe and only gave up 2 runs in 8 innings on this Opening Day at The Jake / Progressive Field. But he had to come out at some point, and it wasn’t until the 10th inning before this one was decided. Jamey Wright tried to get a sinker past the Ranger’s Nelson Cruz who promptly pounded it into the left field stands. Shin-Soo Choo had a nice day, going 3 for 3 with two runs scored, including a first inning homerun off of Rich Harden. Hall of Famer Bob Feller threw out the ceremonial first pitch to former Indians catcher and current first base coach, Sandy Alomar. Matching a feat that Feller achieved 70 years ago, nobody got a hit off of him this year either.
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Milwaukee Brewers vs.
Chicago Cubs April 12, 2010 . Cubs 9 / Brewers 5
The Ricketts family are the newest owners of the Chicago Cubs franchise. They had a high immersion day as they greeted fans at the park entrances, and did the honors of singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame during the 7th Inning Stretch. In a nod to the great fan base of the Cubs, The Ricketts chose a random family to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Awesome! There was no shortage of homerun excitement for the Cubbies as Xavier Nady, Jeff Baker and Hanley Ramirez each contributed souvenirs, and only one enemy ball had to be thrown back. Starter Ryan Dempster got through 6 1/3, giving up five runs but was covered by the nine runs his guys had given him to work with.
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Washington Nationals vs. Philadelphia Phillies April 12, 2010 . Phillies 7 / Nationals 4
The defending National League Champs opened the season with a great show at Citizens Bank Park, which included a grand entrance of the team, led by Roy Halladay and Jamie Moyer. The team walked a gauntlet of fans, high fiving their way to the field. Upon arrival, Manager Charlie Manuel did the honors of raising the 2009 Championship banner! Once the game got started, it came with a bit of a buzz kill as starting shortstop Jimmy Rollins was not in the lineup, having tweaked a calf muscle warming up for the game. It’s hard to say if that impacted the first few innings, but the Phillies offense did not really explode until they had come back from a 4 - 2 deficit in the fifth, with five runs off of Nationals starter Jason Marquis. Chase Utley and Placido Palanco both scored and drove in two runs on the day, Utley’s coming on a home run in the fifth. Even though Phillies starter Cole Hamels gave up four runs through five innings, his offense scored him enough runs to get the win.
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Boston Red Sox vs.
Minnesota Twins April 12, 2010 . Twins 5 / Red Sox 2
Outdoor Baseball in Minnesota! The Grand Opening of Target Field was filled with memorable moments, pomp, and circumstance. A Who’s Who of former Twins did the honors of flag raisings and first pitches in celebration of the opening of their beautiful new ballpark. In one of the coolest activities of the day, key players from Twins history were stationed at the entrance gates in correlation with their jersey numbers, Killebrew at Gate 3, Hrbek at Gate 14, Carew at Gate 29, etc. In fitting tribute, after the unveiling of the Kirby Puckett statue outside of Gate 34, his son Kirby Jr. was honored as the very first person to flip the turnstiles to enter Target Field. The Twins new era began with a first pitch slider from starter Carl Pavano. Red Sox shortstop Marco Scutaro hit a line drive single to centerfield in the first official at bat in the ballpark. It was only fitting that St. Paul Minnesota native Joe Mauer would produce three hits, two of them doubles, and two RBI on this special day. Jason Kubel topped off the scoring for the Twins, with the first Target Field homer in the seventh inning. To top off the great visual improvement Target Field brings to watching a Twins game, the retro off-white pinstriped uniforms they unveiled, commemorating 50 years in Minnesota, were well received.
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Houston Astros vs.
St. Louis Cardinals April 12, 12, 2010 2010 .. Cardinals Cardinals 55 // Astros Astros 00 April
It was appropriate that one of the newest inductees into the Hall of Fame, Whitey Herzog, would have a prominent position in the celebrations on this Opening Day, as it is the 25th Anniversary of the 1985 Cardinals team that won the World Series. He was accompanied by a number of the storied names in franchise history; Gibson, Brock, Sutter, Smith, and of course Musial. There is another guy who will go into the pantheon of great Cardinals, and he didn’t disappoint during this game. Albert Pujols was 2 for 3 with a homerun and 4 RBI, not to mention singling in the first and scoring to get things started for the offense. Ryan Ludwick set the table admirably with a 4 for 4 occasion. Taking the ball for the Opener was Adam Wainwright, who was outstanding. For 8 innings he kept the Astros bats cold, notching 7 strikeouts, allowing only one walk, and keeping them off the scoreboard entirely.
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Atlanta Braves vs. San Diego Padres April 12, 12, 2010 2010 .. Padres Padres 17 17 // Braves Braves 22 April
This was the third Home Opener that the Braves appeared in this season, and it is one that they would like to remove from the record books, as they were creamed by a 10 run fourth inning, ending the game with a final score of 17 - 2. With the familiar voice of broadcaster Dick Enberg joining the Padres play by play team, and serving as the Master of Cermonies, San Diego Chargers Quarterback Phillips Rivers did the honors of the ceremonial first pitch. Maybe it was the gridiron connections that resulted in a football type score for the home team. Padres starter Kevin Correia was the recipient of the ultimate run support and could cruise into the sixth inning with a 13 run lead. Manager Bud Black could spread the pitch count around after Correia walked in the second Braves run in the sixth, and let the bullpen take it the rest of the way. Leftfielder Kyle Blanks homered in the fifth inning and had a 3 for 6 day with 5 RBI to lead the offensive outburst along with Will Venable who went 3 for 5 and scored 4 times, coming up just a double short of the cycle.
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Oakland Athletics vs.
Seattle Mariners April 12, 2010 . Athletics 4 / Mariners 0
A fifteen year reunion for the Seattle Mariners, including the recently retired Randy Johnson throwing out the first pitch, reminded the Opening Day crowd of the legacy that lead to the building of Safeco Field. Feeling comfortable pitching to his old battery mate Dan Wilson, and having former teammates Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez and Ken Griffey Jr. in attendance ... Johnson fired a perfect strike! In a familiar site for Mariners Opening Days, Ichiro Suzuki collected additional hardware for his trophy case, adding a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Award for his 2009 performance. Unfortunately, the Mariners hitting could not match up to the celebratory nature of the day and only managed to collect 2 hits off of Oakland A’s starter Justin Duchscherer. Mariners starter Ryan Rowland-Smith was effective himself, allowing just 3 hits, but gave up 4 runs attributable to the 5 walks on the day.
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Chicago White Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays April 12, 2010 . White Sox 8 / Blue Jays 7
White Sox third baseman Mark Teahan spoiled the Opening Day party in the Rogers Centre not once, but twice. He homered in the top of the ninth off of Blue Jays closer Jason Frasor to send the game into extras, and then he tripled home Omar Vizquel to win it in the 11th inning. The Blue Jays took the time during the pre-game ceremonies to present numerous members of the Canadien Olympic team that competed in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. They also showed a video montage that included the dramatic gold medal overtime goal by the Canadien Men’s Hockey Team over the US. Gold Medalist, skier Alex Bilodeau was honored with the first pitch duties. Former Blue Jay, and current White Sox center fielder, Alex Rios was showered with boos during the player introductions. He countered with 3 hits, a run scored and a stolen base. Vernon Wells continued his hot start, belting his fifth home run of the season in the 3rd inning off of Jake Peavy.
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Yankees Opening Day Roll Call
After we had published our first collection, The 2009 Playoff Collection; True Fans’ Commentary in 140 Characters, we discovered a guy on Twitter going by the name Legendary23. At the time of the first publication, we were not aware of the great concept that he developed, transferring a real world tradition of the Bleacher Creature Roll Call into an online call to arms of fellow Yankee fans! As we got near the start of Opening Day 2010, we thought that it would be great to include his Roll Call as part of this Collection. We knew the excitement of raising banner #27, the ring ceremony, and all of the usual excitement of an Opening Day would truly exemplify the joyousness we have tried to capture. When we reached out to him, he was more than gracious in agreeing to publish his Roll Call from Opening Day 2010. Although many of the Roll Call regulars were unable to get adequate cell coverage inside The Stadium, the Tweets as presented here can give you a sense of the community that has built around this digital tradition. Thanks Dave! Thanks for sharing your Passion ....
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Los Angeles Angels vs. New York Yankees April 13, 2010 . Yankees 7 / Angels 5
The participants in the 2009 American League Championship Series got to square off again during the Home Opener at Yankee Stadium. But before the action on the diamond could take place, there was a lot of business to tend to. To do the honors of the ring distribution, the Yankees called on a couple of legendary figures in franchise history, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra. After the team had been given their hardware, and as they lined up on the base line, the announcement “We still have one more ring to present� created a spine tingling moment. World Series MVP Hideki Matsui came out from the visiting dugout to the roar of the crowd. The moment was made even more memorable as the Yankees spontaneously broke rank and mobbed Matsui. When it was time to do the first pitch, fan favorite Bernie Williams, a member of 4 World Series Championship teams strode confidently to the mound, before releasing an errant throw. The crowd gave him a good natured razzing. The ballgame included a classic pitching performance from Andy Pettitte, taking the ball for the fourth time in a Home Opener. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez contributed two RBI apiece, and Nick Swisher made a nice diving catch in front of the Bleacher Creatures. Although things got a little hairy after Bobby Abreu hit a grand slam in the 9th to pull to within two, one can only imagine how many times the following words have been entered on a keyboard ... Mariano Rivera came on to get the save. Only fitting on a day when the pursuit of another Championship begins. 139
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Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers April 13, 2010 . Dodgers 9 / Diamondbacks 5
After the silver (Sluggers) and gold (Glove) hardware was dolled out to Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp in pre-game ceremonies, it was time for them to combine with Dodger teammates Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake for some long balls in an Opening Day win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Twenty-two year old lefthander Clayton Kershaw was given the honor of pitching in this Opening Day game. He went 5 1/3rd innings gave up 2 runs on 3 hits, and retired seven Diamondbacks on strikeouts. Signaling the start of the 2010 Season, Larry King proclaimed for the sellout crowd of 56,000, “It’s Time for Dodger Baseball!”
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Next @ Baseballisms.com • We are pleased to present podcast interviews with a wide variety of authors who have penned baseball books. If you have a hard time making it through the offseason without some Wisdom from the Diamond, check out these selections to help you get by. Please let us know if there are any authors we should being talking with, and if you have contact information to help set things up we would really appreciate it. You can email information to Wisdom@baseballisms.com
• We will be participating in the Seamheads.com 50th Anniversary Strat-O-Matic replay league, managing the 1995 Atlanta Braves against the likes of Keith Olbermann & Dirk Hayhurst, Bob Costas, Curt Schilling, Morgan Ensberg, Eric Karabell and Chad Finn to name just a few. Thirty teams will face off in a season leading up to the official 50th Anniversary date. Keep an eye on Baseballisms.com for updates and insights.
• Check out the coolest baseball gear that you will ever wear at our merchandise store .. http://www.zazzle.com/baseballisms. Don’t just go with the usual home team jersey, these smart statements will demonstrate to true fans that You’ve Got Game!
• We will continue to present your personal baseball stories, your own Baseballisms. We would love to have you share with the entire community how the game of baseball has impacted your life, or simply your fondest recollections. Write us your story and send it via email or create a video message and post it via the Upload Page. Interview your friends and family, find out what they love about our National Pastime. We look forward to building this community of fans interested in sharing the poetry of the game of baseball!
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Give Back We would have been remiss had we failed to mention how generous the baseball community is. If the spirit moves you, you have the resources or the time to give back in some small way, we would like to simply suggest that you investigate the important and charitable works associated with your favorite ballclub. Baseballisms.com would also like to recognize:
The Boys and Girls Clubs of America is the official Charity of Major League Baseball – http://www.bgca.org/
In 1953, the owners of The Boston Red Sox, Tom and Jean Yawkey, adopted The Jimmy Fund as the official team charity:
The Jimmy Fund http://www.jimmyfund.org/
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Conclusion Another baseball season has come and gone. The enthusiasm of Spring has given way to the realities of baseball. Teams that appeared to have made roster improvements ended up finding out that things just weren’t quite what they seemed. Others were overwhelmed by injuries, which forced too many players from future days to log unexpected innings this year. But some teams exceeded expectations, rookies made significant contributions, and some teams are about to embark on postseason crusades. What all baseball fans can attest however, is that in a few months we will be gathering around Spring Training parks in warmer climates. We will be looking over the new guys, wondering where they will bat in the lineup or pitch in the rotation. We will be gathering with old friends, as reliable as a worn glove, and we will ask ourselves if this will be the year when we celebrate a championship season. Because yes indeed .... Hope does spring eternal.
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