Opening Day Thoughts

ByDr. Dan

Last week Major League Baseball celebrated Opening Day.  Many years ago, I played on Opening Day. Not so many years ago, I coached on Opening Day.  In more recent years, I’ve attended Opening Day games year after year.  There is a life significance to Opening Day.  Here are a few of my favorite quotes about Opening Day:

  • “Opening day. All you have to do is say the words and you feel the shutters thrown wide, the room air out, the light pour in. In baseball, no other day is so pure with possibility. No scores yet, no losses, no blame or disappointment.” Mary Schmich
  • “When they start the game, they don’t yell, ‘Work ball.’ They say, ‘Play ball.’” Willie Stargell
  • “Baseball’s Opening Day is full of time-honored traditions: the President throws out the first ball, the Cubs’ starting pitcher walks away with a 54.00 ERA, the Royals get mathematically eliminated from the pennant race.” Rob Sheffield
  • “There is no sports event like Opening Day of baseball, the sense of beating back the forces of darkness and the National Football League.” George Vecsey
  • “An Opener is not like any other game. There’s that little extra excitement, a faster beating of the heart. … You know that when you win the first one, you can’t lose ’em all.” Early Wynn
  • “It’s like Christmas, except it’s warmer.” Pete Rose, on the thrill of Opening Day
  • “Guys, if we win this one, all we have to do is win the rest of ‘em and we’ll have a perfect season.”  One of my Little League Baseball Coaches, whose name I’ve forgotten.
  • “Commit your activities to the Lord, and your plans will be achieved.” Proverbs 16:3, HCSB