I've been thinking about Opening Day for the 2014 season for a few days.
Not this Opening Day (which I bought at Target and was loaded with star players). I'm talking about Major League Baseball's idiotic concept of starting the season 3...make it 4 times.
First they said "Opening Day" was March 22 when the Dodgers and Diamondbacks were forced to fly to Australia to play two games that count. Don't get me wrong, Australia is amazing. I've been there twice and it is the one foreign destination that I've been to that I would revisit in a heartbeat. The problem I have with Australia as the site of "Opening Day" is that baseball is supposed to be America's past time and Australia is most definitely not part of America.
The next "Opening Day" was Sunday, March 30th. Again, the Dodgers played, this time against the Padres. This lone game was somehow supposed to represent the start of the season, but in reality it was just a ploy to get more viewers to tune in to the only game available on the MLB network.
That takes us to Monday, March 31st. Here we have yet another "Opening Day". Never mind that my Rangers were apparently still auditioning pitchers as if it was Spring Training. This time we had 26 teams taking the field. 30 teams -26 teams = 4 teams not playing. So after 3 "Opening Days" you still have two teams that haven't played and that includes one of the most favored of all teams, the New York Yankees (and the Astros). I'll just ignore that fact that the day AFTER the 3rd "Opening Day" only 18 teams are playing. Poor babies need a day off already?
The Yankees and Astros have their own "Opening Day" on April 1st. This must be a joke. Bud Selig is punking all of us for April Fool's Day.
Bud, I got used to Inter-League play. I don't really mind it, but I really don't like that you've spread it all over the season now.
Why can't Opening Day be just that. Opening Day should be Opening Day for every team. On American soil. Do it on Sunday so people don't have to skip work and school to go to the game. If Opening Day was on Sunday, I would go. Every year. I love baseball that much.
I just don't like the way Bud and MLB have to screw with everything.
Amen brother! My thoughts exactly.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Very annoying. The Aussie series was just silly. No one had any idea it was going on, albeit fans of those teams.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I will say that the day off the next day is usually to protect that team's "true" opening day against weather. It serves as a make up day if the first day is rained out. But it's annoying to finally watch your team, then have to deal with an off day the next day. It's a tease.
Totally agree.
ReplyDeleteAs a guy who's been to an Opening Day series in another country (Japan) and knows just how fun the whole experience can be I don't agree with making Opening Day a US-exclusive thing.
ReplyDeleteBut yes the Yankees-Astros game is a joke and every team should have Opening Day on the same day. As for Interleague, I wonder if Selig and co. have considered going back to only having one league in the MLB...
I'm just happy to see baseball is back.
ReplyDelete... and it doesn't hurt that the Phillies won despite the best efforts of both teams to give that one away!
No matter where the game is located it is just weird that you play two games that count and then proceed to have a week of exhibitions.
ReplyDeleteI long for the good old days of tradition on Opening Day -- in other words, Opening Day begins in Cincinnati because that is where professional baseball started. I don't mind games overseas, honestly, because growing the game in countries where it is played now is a good thing. Obviously, the travel to Australia (I mean, it's a 15-hour flight from LAX to SYD, after all) means you have to do something a bit different if you want to play there. But, I do miss the days of "Opening Day" meaning "opening in the traditional location of Cincinnati."
ReplyDeleteI don't think MLB should start off the year by disorienting fans. In fact, the inclusion of interleague is disorienting, too. And the wild card thing. When's the season start? What round of the playoffs is this? Who are we playing now? The Tigers? Really? It's like I'm on allergy medicine for the entire season.
ReplyDelete