Casey Stengel once said, “There's three things you can do in a baseball game - you can win, you can lose, or it can rain.”
Today, it just may be the latter that begins another Red Sox season. But even if Red Sox National begins the year with drops falling from the sky, we are still one step closer to the start of the season, and fans will flock to the park as they have since the very first Fenway opener on April 20th, 1912.
It does not matter what the actual weather is outside today, because there is magic in the air! The sky is as deep a blue as you can remember from your childhood, no matter how much rain or how many clouds actually materialize. The grass is as green as a hill in Ireland and there is optimism in the air. While it may not feel like Spring, the feelings of cold and wind are suppressed by the warmth of a new beginning. No matter where you are today, you walk with an extra bounce in your step. There is a feeling that, today, you could conquer the world, and for the Olde Towne Team, this WILL be the year AGAIN!! For today is Opening Day at Fenway Park.
The free agency market was once again dominated by the evil empire this off-season. As Yankee fans rejoiced at the signings of some of the most talented free agents, Red Sox fans held strong: “we can find hitting from within” and, “we have the best five-man rotation in all of baseball” were the phrases we heard from fellow members of the Nation. We chuckled quietly (and not so quietly) as the steroid issue reared its ugly head again this winter, chuckling only because THEY had to deal with it, and not us. We have hope for the Red Sox Captain, and may miss Manny’s bat, but will not miss his antics.
Somehow, all of those issues are put aside today. There is a mystique about opening day that surpasses all other sports. Opening Day brings back the magic, the majesty and the dignity that only the game of baseball seems to conjure up. Is it because baseball is the only major sport that begins with the start of Spring, or because it is one of the oldest leagues in the country? It does not seem to matter.
On Opening Day, a child will arrive at Fenway Park and see the Green Monster for the first time and it will look much the same as it has for the past 97 years. Wide eyed, the child will watch as Jacoby Ellsbury runs the bases, as the Most Valuable Player Dustin Pedroia makes a double play look easy, and as Jason Bay chases down fly balls. Popcorn, hot dogs and peanuts will make the experience complete, and every person at the ballpark today will look at that child and remember their first visit to Fenway.
As the economy continues to be unstable, and people look for hope during a time when it is hard to find, it may be even more timely than ever to remember the words which W.P. Kinsella once wrote: “The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.”
Magic. So real, you can almost reach out and touch it. It’s what Opening Day at Fenway Park is all about.
Keywords: Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, Opening Day
