It has arrived. The season of hope and new beginnings.
No, not that season. THIS season:
Starting tomorrow, hope will once again spring eternal in baseball fans’ hearts. For some this could be the year their team wins it all, for others they’ll be happy with a .500 record. Either way, the anticipation is real.
How could it not be?
Ground crews are busy prepping fields and concession stands are filling their inventory. Teams are making their way north for the first game of the season. Live baseball is back, baby!
I love the first glimpse of the field from the concourse, the way the outfield grass glistens under the night lights, the crack of the bat, the pop of the glove…it’s magical and downright intoxicating. Before the pandemic, my daughter and I would regularly go to Orioles games (and plan to pick that up this season). Their stadium is the best, even though the O’s are my second favorite team. Don’t laugh…someday they will be good. Until then, I’m going to enjoy that gem of a park and indulge in Chesapeake Fries (my first bite was a life-changing moment). Camden Yards is truly one of my happy places.
That said, the number one team in my heart is the New York Mets. I’m a bleed blue and orange, cradle to grave fan. Living in the Baltimore-DC corridor, I don’t get to see them in person often, but I do have an MLBtv streaming subscription so I watch quite a few games on my little screen while I chat with fellow fans on the SB Nation site Amazin’ Avenue.
We’re starting out this season a little differently and hitting two games in Washington, DC – Opening Day and Sunday. Nationals Park is a lovely urban setting. They’ve done a great job revitalizing that area, which is adjacent to the Navy Yard. And that’s the only nice thing I’ll say about our division rivals.
Of course, being a Mets fan never comes without complications – rain and injuries this year only bolster our belief that we can’t have nice things. That’s for The Team That Shall Remain Nameless in the Bronx. They get all the spoils.
No matter. Baseball is back. My Mets will be donning their uniforms and taking the field tomorrow. Or the next day. Weather permitting.
Let’s Go Mets!