FOR EVERY TEAM, A DAY OF HOPE
Baseball’s annual ritual transcends the pastime
Opening Day is an emotional gold mine, one of the greatest treasures in professional sports. It should be a national holiday.
The event transcends baseball. The idea fills people with hope. The game means more between the ears than it does in the actual standings.
It symbolizes the beginning of a new journey. It signals the coming of summer, an ominous threat in Arizona but a comforting reminder in other parts of the country. It’s the one day when you can be sure your team is going to the World Series and no one can prove you wrong.
“If you don’t feel excited on Opening Day, something is wrong with you,” Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta
said.
The 2018 Diamondbacks don’t need artificial optimism. The team is coming off a wildly successful season, including a one-game playoff victory against the Rockies last October, a night when Chase Field shook with blissful solidarity.
There were no mixed allegiances in the ballpark that night, and that particular game is the new standard for what our baseball franchise wants to accomplish in the near future, building a philosophy of one team, one city.
The Diamondbacks have lost J.D. Martinez, who accomplished the unthinkable during his short stay in the Valley, clubbing 29 home runs in 62 games. But they’ve improved their bullpen. Their starting rotation is deep and talented. Torey Lovullo is the reigning National League Manager of the Year. General Manager Mike Hazen has a great touch at finding the right player at the right time and the right price.
There is no reason this team can’t make the playoffs again, building on the goodwill it forged in 2017.
“It’s very important to sustain the momentum,” Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall said. “After we made the playoffs in 2007, we had a great opening month the following season and then the wheels completely fell off. We made the playoffs in 2011 and thought we had turned a corner, and didn’t get back to the postseason for another six years. That’s something we want to change this year, but it’s not going to be easy. Our division is really, really tough.”
The worrying can wait. Hand-wringing and negativity just doesn’t fit the vibe of Opening Day, even though the game can set a tone, make a statement and even forecast the future. The Diamondbacks have made the playoffs six times in their 20-year history, winning on Opening Day in five of those seasons.
You could feel a different glow in the clubhouse before Thursday’s game. Peralta was so anxious to get to the ballpark that he left home absurdly early, arriving at noon for a game that wouldn’t start until 7:10 p.m.. He laughed at himself when he noticed his car was the only one in the players’ parking lot.
Meanwhile, the immensely popular Archie Bradley worked off his excitement by running wind sprints in the outfield wearing a shirt that read: “Ego Is the Enemy.”
“I don’t take it for granted,” Bradley said. “There are a lot of kids out there who wish they were doing what we’re doing, and there are only 700 of us who can put on a uniform on Opening Day. Personally, it means a lot. Team-wise, we have a chance to go win the World Series. And it all starts today.”
This occasion means just as much to the fans, because the event is fueled by nostalgia, one of the most powerful forces on Earth. Baseball was once America’s pastime, a common bond linking multiple generations.
And Opening Day allows all of us to connect with our younger selves, proving we have roots and providing a sense of continuity to our lives.
“Everybody in this clubhouse has the same feeling,” Peralta said. “Everyone is going to have butterflies in their stomach and everyone is full of excitement. Different guys just show it in different ways. Guys like me will let everyone know how excited they are. Others will keep it quiet. But it’s all there.”
Ironically, the Diamondbacks are pushing Major League Baseball to open more frequently on the road. Hall doesn’t think it helps the team’s mindset when it finishes Cactus League competition and simply shifts its operations from Scottsdale to Phoenix.
The Diamondbacks haven’t opened on the road since 2011, and Hall believes a road trip to start the season could add a sense of urgency along with a valuable bonding experience.
“I don’t think opening at home is a negative,” Hall said. “But it could be more of a positive if we started on the road. There’s something about getting in their cars and going 10 miles (to Chase Field) versus breaking camp, going out on the road, playing a couple series in a couple of different cities and then coming home.”
Arizona fans will surely disagree. There is a big difference between Opening Day and staging a home opener, and you could feel the excitement outside of Chase Field by early afternoon. Much of the civic buzz stems from a team that went deep in 2017, resonating with casual fans as well as the seam-heads who are crazy about Major League Baseball.
Still, it feels like this every year, when a plodding sport pulls off an incredible feat. There are 162 games on the schedule, 10 times the inventory of a NFL franchise and nearly double the number of games played by an NBA team. By design, one game can’t mean that much in baseball.
But this one does. And while MLB has ruined Opening Day in the past, opening in countries like Japan and Australia, the sport truly honored one of its greatest traditions on Thursday: For the first time since 1968, every team was scheduled to open its season on the same day, with 15 games in 15 cities, in front of fans eager for a new beginning.
“A year ago, I was probably more excited because it was my first day as a manager, and I always kind of dreamed what it would be like,” Lovullo said. “I’m still anxious and excited, because it’s Opening Day and the expectations are so great for every team. You just don’t know what path you’re going to go down, and you hope it’s the right path that your team takes.
“That’s what Opening Day represents. No matter where you are, whether it’s Little League or high school and you’re carrying the banners around, it’s always a special time. And that will never change.”
Reach Bickley at dan. bickley@arizonarepublic .com or 602-444-8253. Follow him on Twitter @dan.bickley. Listen to “Bickley and Marotta” weekdays from 12-2 p.m. on 98.7 Arizona’s Sports Station.