Yesterday was the best day of the year, Opening Day of the baseball season. Like Annie in Bull Durham I worship at the Church of Baseball. I made sure to get home before first pitch. I had the TV on when they announced not just the starting lineups but the subs. This is all part of the ritual for the holiest day of the year. Why is opening day the best day of the year? Because anything is possible for every team and every player. Before the day started the Magic number for the Mets to clinch was 163; any combination of Met wins and Brave losses adding up to 163 guarantees the Mets will be ahead of the Braves. That magic number is 163 – Met Wins – Brave Losses. In any sport replace 163 with one more than the number of games in the season and of course use the teams you care about, Just remember that your team is not as important as the Mets.
I’ll let Dan Bern tell you why Opening Day is important.
Someone on Facebook said it didn’t feel like Opening Day this year. Not to me, I woke up excited. My excitement was dampened a bit because of bad news about the second holiest day of the year, the Home Opener. I’m going to that but it was announced that the Mets’ newly acquired ace, future Hall-of-Famer Justin Verlander was put 0n the DL. He was supposed to start then. Instead I’ll be seeing my favorite young Met pitcher Tyler Megill who I think should be in the starting rotation. Always look on the bright side of life.
What did my beloved Mets do: They won 5-3. Their Magic Number is now 162 because the Braves won too. Thanks to the new pitch clock the game time was 2:42, which was actually a bit longer than I expected. What’s funny is that “You kids get off my lawn” crowd complain that the game feels rushed. My first game back in 1969, back when the complainers think thing were perfect, took 2:08. They just reflexively hate all change. I’ve hated the DH since it started, after watching in the NL one season I discovered that it doesn’t ruin the game, or materially lessen my enjoyment. It might even enhance it. Same thing with the ghost runner in extra innings. Willie Mays said baseball is a simple game, “You pitch the ball I hit it. You hit the ball, I catch it.” As long as that’s what I see on the field it’s baseball.
I had a misadventure Wednesday night. I had tickets to see, The Sea The Sea at City Vinyard. The show started at 7:30 and doors were at 6:00. The question was, do I go home first? To do that I have to go home, drop some things off, maybe change, and then head right out. If I don’t go home then I have two hours to kill. I decided to go home. I got to the venue which is also a restaurant at 6:15 and said, “I have a ticket for the show? The hostess asked me, “For the music. I said yes. She said, “the show was canceled by the artist. NOOOOO. That means I wasted more than two and a half hours commuting. I hate that. I thought of eating out in the City but instead I went home and cooked dinner. The City Vinyard sent me an email saying the show was canceled but it came just as I was leaving school so I never saw it. I can’t blame them. I love Chuck and Mira, the artists, and know they wouldn’t cancel without a good reason, so I can’t blame them. I was left with nobody to blame and vent about. People love to be able to lay blame for things that go wrong and I’m a people. Unlike too many people that doesn’t mean I will blame any convenient target. If no one is to blame, then that’s how it goes.
I have the same going home dilemma tonight. The big problem is that I have things to do at home and I’ll have no time to do them. I am considering just staying home but as I missed the show on Wednesday I’m jonesing for live music. Tonight’s show is The Ladles at Sunny’s in Red Hook. I love the Ladles but Sunny’s is a pain in the neck to get to. I asked two friends to go with me but neither could make it. If I knew I’d have company I would certainly go. If you live closer to Red Hook than me you should certainly go. I probably will and it’s an hour and a half trip for me. If you want to go, let me know. Your presence will be enough to deal with the three-hour round-trip commute.
Last night Gord’s Gold was streamed on Folk Music Notebook. You can now stream it on demand on Mixcloud or even better, right here.
Wise Madness 