If the baseball gods want to bless the city of Baltimore and their fans, they sure did.
Over the years, I’ve been going to Opening Day for years at Camden Yards and could never remember one in recent memory as nice as this.
It was summer in April.
As James noted yesterday – and you all know – the Orioles defeated the Detroit Tigers, 4-1.
Getting in and especially out of Downtown Baltimore, plus finding traffic was a pain yesterday; however, all things considered with the weather, plus a overwhelming crowd in orange and black – and not in Red Sox and Yankee gear – was a great thing to see.
The fact the Orioles also swept the Rays this weekend and the vibe of good feelings in the air brought a sold-out crowd en masse to Camden Yards.
Listening to the radio while drive into Baltimore from I-95, I heard a ton of clichés, hyperbole, metaphors and other stuff about the Orioles, plus Buck Showalter – especially after a three-game win streak with only 159 games to go, but I too was a happy man. I was honestly just glad to see baseball again live in and person.
For many of us, Opening Day is like a holiday or an important annual celebration, similar to an anniversary. Opening Day doesn’t quite have the same feel as the Super Bowl, or the NBA Finals, but it’s not an ordinary game in a long season.
It’s a day where hope is renewed and fans wish that their team starts off the season on a winning note.
That happened for the Orioles.
Futhermore, seeing former and two-time World Series manager throw out the first pitch along and seeing Buck Showalter catch it was a great moment. Once you add in the pagentry and optimism, Monday was something to remember.
Brian Roberts’ three-run homer made the difference in yesterday’s game in a four-run fifth inning for Baltimore. Matt Wieters also added an RBI-double in frame to put the Orioles up 5-1. He also scored the first run of the game as pitcher Rick Porcello – who took the loss – threw a wild pitch.
Yet another Oriole starting pitcher did their job well as Jake Arrieta threw six innings and only gave up a run.
Arrieta had a tough act to follow considering how well the pitching had done over the weekend against the Rays; however, he stepped up the mound on the home opener and did his thing.
The person who very much impressed me on the afternoon was Jason Berken. Now, he struggled a bit during Spring Training and is coming off injury; however, Berken brought it as he struck out three and threw two scoreless.
The two teams meet again Wednesday and Thursday.
