In a few hours, the home opener will take place at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. This will be my tenth one in a row I’ve attended, and each one is like a holiday from life – if only for a few hours. The original forecast for today called for rain; however, driving into work on I-695, the skies started to clear and you could see a hint of blue peeking through the air.
I figured sitting out in the cold and damp rain was going to suck, but I do think things will clear up by game time and the view at the ballpark will be a picturesque one.
So far, the season has started out a high note for the Orioles and they did a good job against the always pesky Tampa Bay Rays. Chris Davis seems to be singlehandedly willing the Orioles to victory with three homers and 11 runs batted in during his first three games; Adam Jones has been hot at the plate, the starting pitching has been solid and the bullpen – with the exception of Wednesday night – has been dependable.
The bad news out Florida was that Brian Roberts got injured – again. That’s bad to hear considering how will he played in spring training and in the first three games of the season. Hopefully, he’ll be back on his feet on the field soon; however, with him – who knows?
That being said, Oriole Park should be rocking this afternoon. Unlike in year’s past where were accustomed to expecting the team to underwhelm over the course of the season, in 2013, expectations are different.
Fans expect a winner, and we’ll what happens over the next few months. The Orioles have played very well this week, and it is up to them to prove the naysayers wrong. Few – especially in the national media – believe that they can repeat what they did in 2012, and we as fans hope the magic returns.
The statistics will say that the Birds can’t win 93 games again, and experts are pegging the Toronto Blue Jays to win the division.
Well, one can’t predict baseball. The games are not played on paper or via speculation.
The game is sold out on today and local media has already treated the day as a holiday with wall-to-wall coverage, plus full of pomp-and-circumstance with the pre-game ceremonies, and people will be excited to baseball back in own.
The bars around the stadium will be buzzing, there will be a lot of alcohol flowing, and there will be a lot of fans dressed in black and orange to partake in another start of the year for the Orioles.
Kids will be skipping school, many like myself will be playing hooky from work for some of the day, and others have just taken the day off completely.
Whether they make the playoffs this year – or not, I’m just glad baseball – for real – is back. Considering everything that we all have to deal with in life, the good and bad, baseball is a great diversion from the reality of life – at least for a few hours.
