Sunday, April 3, 2016

Opening Day!

Opening Day! It's about time. Five months without baseball is five too many.
I know it's a common complaint that the baseball season is too long, but I miss it during the off-season. When you've had a game to follow (almost) every day for six months, seven if you're lucky and they're good enough for the playoffs, it leaves a hole when it ends.

My teams are the Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers. Mom and grandma made sure I was a Cubs fan from birth, and I adopted the Tigers when I moved to Michigan almost 20 years ago. Being in different leagues, they rarely meet head-to-head, so pulling for both is pretty easy. If they did end up playing one another for anything significant, I'd be ecstatic - good news for me no matter who wins!

This year feels a bit different than usual since the Cubs are actually favored to win. It's been a good long time since there's been significant hype in the pre-season for the small bears. The last few seasons, there's been a lot of talk about how the team is building and is "just a few years away." Well, now that time is here, and it's a nervous feeling for a Cubs fan. Disappointment is the one constant over the last 100+ years of Cubs history, but this could be the year to change it!

Things are not nearly as rosy on the other side of Lake Michigan. The Tigers had a few really good years recently, with four straight division titles and a World Series appearance. But it's been a downward spiral since, missing the playoffs last year and not looking particularly good for this season. Still, spring is all about hope in baseball, and anything can happen.

Play ball!