What can we learn from an MLB Opening Day that brought blowouts and nail-biters, successes and failures, wins and losses?
After a long, dark winter, baseball fans across the country (except in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cincinnati, and Washington) were able to enjoy real baseball once again. We saw the pomp and circumstance of MLB Opening Day. There were dignitaries throwing out first pitches and bunting decorating stadiums across the land. Many pitching aces toed the rubber for the first time in games that actually count in the standings. It was a wonderful day of baseball for most fans.
For the first time in 50 years, MLB scheduled every team for an MLB Opening Day game, but rainouts in Cincinnati and Detroit prevented the Reds, Nationals, Pirates, and Tigers from playing. The Tigers took advantage of the wet weather by avoiding a loss and moving ahead of the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central.
Enjoy it, Tiger fans, because it won’t last long. The rain in Cincinnati prevented Max Scherzer from starting on MLB Opening Day like fellow pitching Mount Rushmore members Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale, and Corey Kluber.
So, what did we learn from MLB Opening Day? Nothing. It was one game. In baseball, one game is like a grain of sand on a vast, expansive beach. It’s fun to project Giancarlo Stanton to hit 324 home runs this year because he launched two taters in his New York Yankees debut, but even the most optimistic Yankee fans know that’s not going to happen.
MLB Opening Day is the water poured into your glass at the beginning of a seven-course meal. It’s just a little taste of what’s to come. And while Opening Day didn’t tell us anything of importance, plenty of interesting things happened around the league.