It was July of 1976, the Summer of The Bird. Mark Fidrych, the 21-year old rookie was the center of attention. He couldn’t help but be. The spotlight found him, and it was for the simplest of reasons. He was himself. Refreshingly so.
When Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, he blazed a trail for African American ballplayers. That legacy lives on today. In the last ten seasons, 15 of the 20 league Most Valuable Player Awards have been awarded to African American or Latino ballplayers.
When Juan Marichal stepped on the mound for the first time as a big leaguer, it was the first major league game he had ever seen. Nine innings later, he had made one of the most spectacular debuts in baseball history, and launched a career that would land him in Cooperstown.
When Babe Ruth went down on strikes in an exhibition game in Chattanooga in 1931, it was at the hand of a pitcher described as having “a swell change of pace,” as well as a “mean lipstick.”
Opening Day is unique to baseball. Other sports have season openers, but baseball’s Opening Day marks the ceremonial beginning of spring. It may only be 1/162nd of the season, but fans and players alike admit there’s something special about the first game of the schedule.