Hooray!

Well, we’ve made it. It’s finally Opening Day.

Yes Opening Day, a tradition that goes back to…well, the first day of baseball I guess.

Wait, let me try out my Jim Nantz voice: A tradition unlike any other, Opening Day on CBS. (Even though CBS doesn’t seem to have baseball. Though if they did, I’m sure Jim Nantz would be broadcasting it.)

Alright, here are some of my favorite moments from the first day of baseball seasons past.

Let’s start back on April 16, 1940 when Rapid Robert Feller tossed the only no-hitter in Opening Day history. The 21-year-old Feller shut down the Chicago White Sox on this day, the first of his career high 27 wins that season. His offense didn’t help much, giving him only a run to work with, but clearly that was enough.

Moving ahead, how about Hank Aaron tying Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record back on Opening Day 1974? He sat out the next day to further his chances of breaking the mark at home, which he did four days later on April 8. There’s something special about hitting a milestone at the beginning of the season. I remember going to see Sammy Sosa play while he was sitting on 498 home runs back in September of 2002. I certainly wanted to see him get the two dingers while I was in the park, but ultimately, it was much nicer for everyone when he ended the season at 499. The Cubs were dead, hanging around last place when I went to that game. At the beginning of 2003, things were different. People actually cared about the team and the 500th home run was just part of the exciting April as opposed to being a footnote to most fans if it had occurred at the end of a boring cellar dwelling-season.

Speaking of the Cubs, who can forget Tuffy Rhodes’ magical performance on April 4, 1994 to open that season? 3 home runs were hit by the man who hit only ten others in his career. He went on to became a great slugger in the Japanese League.

Those are some of my favorite Opening Day moments. Are there other great ones? Let me know.

I know of course that there are lots of other great ones. Opening Day itself is great because everyone is in first place (though not anymore) and more importantly, we finally get to see some baseball, a game we will undoubtedly grow very tired of within a few months. But not yet! Happy Opening Day everyone!