Opening Day..and post #300

No, I'm not talking about this:





I'm talking about the first day of REAL BASEBALL!! Now, I'm not surprised that the ONLY real game today features the Yankees and Red Sox. MLB bends over backwards to promote those teams. All the way over. And not always backwards. Sure, they are big market, they spend more money than the U.S. Department of Defense and they get featured in the media more than Sandra Bullock and Jesse James (get over it already, please!) That doesn't mean I have to like there being only one real game on Opening Day.

One thing I don't like is that on Opening Day...THE Opening Day of the 2010 season, you also have the Mariners and Giants playing an exhibition game. Opening Day should be reserved for R.E.A.L baseball, even if it is the Evil Empire vs. Beantown.


The true greatness of Opening Day is every team has a fresh start. Hope is alive in every dugout, every locker room and every fan. Every team has a chance to make this their year. Ok, we all know that isn't really true, but it doesn't hurt to dream!

I was surprised when I looked up the winning records for teams on Opening Day. The team with the highest winning percentage was more than a little shocking.

Overall, the Toronto Blue Jays have the highest winning percentage on Opening Day, winning 75.7% of those games. That's a great way to start the season. Here are the other teams in order from best to worst.

Yankees--66%
Mariners--63.6%
Mets--60.4%
Rockies--58.8%
Red Sox--58.7%
Orioles--57.7%
Giants--57.4%
Pirates--57%
Cubs--56.7%
Nationals--56%
Brewers--56%
Twins--55%
Cardinals--54.6%
Braves--54.4%
Tigers--53.2%
Indians--53.2%
White Sox--53.2%
Royals--51.2%
Rays--50%
Diamondbacks--50%
Padres--48.7%
Athletics--48.6%
Dodgers--48.4%
Astros--47.9%
Reds--47.6%
Phillies--47.2%
Marlins--47%
Rangers--42.8%
Angels--42.8%

Way to bring up the rear there Rangers!! Well, we're going to do better this year because we're going to knock those Blue Jays down a peg.

Here are just a few historic opening day facts for you courtesy of baseball-almanac.com:

Ted Williams was a .449 hitter in openers, with three home runs and fourteen runs batted in during fourteen games. "Teddy Ballgame" also boasted at least one hit in every Opening Day game he appeared in. Williams' first Opening Day (April 20, 1939) was especially noteworthy as he faced the rival New York Yankees and Lou Gehrig, who was playing in his 2,123rd consecutive game.

Opening Day 1940 witnessed one of the most famous pitching events as Cleveland ace Bob Feller and White Sox hurler Eddie Smith went head-to-head. Smith blinked, but Feller remained in control and tossed the only Opening Day no-hitter in Major League history.

Hammerin' Hank Aaron ignited the crowd at Riverfront Stadium on his first swing of the 1974 season when he tagged Cincinnati Reds for his 714th career home run to tie Babe Ruth on the all-time list.




I hope YOUR team wins every game they play, except when they play Texas.

By the way, this is post #300. I can't believe that to be honest with you. It's been fun so far. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Play Ball!