Dear Readers,

Back in 2018, I was home on Opening Day and set out to watch/listen to as many games as I could. I wrote about that experience here. This year, we have a different sort of Opening Day. For starters, Opening Day was actually last night when we had two games played, one on the East Coast and one of the West Coast. And as far as today goes, there isn’t much “day” in Opening Day since there is only one afternoon game on the schedule. Still, it does mark a return to baseball. So there’s that at least.

I’m a Red Sox fan. I live behind enemy lines outside of Houston. It’s funny, really. Ten years ago. Five years ago. Few in this city gave a shit about the Astros. When they racked up those 100 loss seasons, they were giving away free tickets and couldn’t get more than 10,000 people at the games. Then suddenly, they have a couple of good seasons with the aid of some trash can lids and now everyone in this city acts like they’ve been fans all along. Bullshit. 85% of the Astros “fans” are of the fair weather variety. And the problem with those “fans”, as opposed to the real Astros fans, is that they do nothing but talk shit when they learn you like another team. I’ve had many a run in with these buffoons when I wear my Red Sox stuff out in public over the last couple of years. And, they are a bunch of crybabies when they lose too. But I digress.

Last night, I listened to the Yankees play the Nationals in D.C., up until the rain out, that is. Dr. Fauci threw out the first pitch. Let’s just say that he’s a much better doctor than he was a pitcher…unless he was trying to give an indication of how to social distance based on the distance from the plate the ball landed. The first inning was exciting. Stanton of the Yankees hit a two-run shot that also scored Judge. In the bottom on the first, Eaton answered with a solo shot to right field. The Nats had Scherzer on the mound, so I assumed the home run he gave up was simply due to the long layover given the dominant performances he usually brings to the mound. He gave up a run in the third and another in the fifth. He pitched 5.1 innings with four earned runs, but he also struck out 11. The game was called due to lighting after the top of the sixth, so the 4-1 score ends up being the final one.

After this game ended, I switched over the Giants and Dodgers game. Kershaw had been scheduled to start for the Dodgers, but he was scratched a few hours before the game due to back spasms. As an individual with a damaged spine, I know full well how debilitating that can be. The Giants scored first in the top of the third. The Dodgers tied the game when Hernandez hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth. The game remained knotted until the Dodgers offense exploded in the bottom of the seventh. They added five runs that inning, and two more in the bottom of the eighth to come out on top 8-1. My favorite player from the Red Sox, Mookie Betts, now wears Dodgers blue. He’s there on a one year contract, but it was announced earlier that he singed a 12 year 345 million dollar (I think) extension. In his first game as a Dodger, went 1 for 5 with two strikeouts. Oops.

What’s on tap for today? At 3pm, I’ll listen to the Mets home feed when they take on the Braves. At 6:30pm, it’ll be time for the Red Sox. Since Jackie Bradley, Jr. is going to be wearing a mic on NESN, I’ll probably do something very unusual and watch via my MLB subscription rather than listen on the radio. When this game ends, I’ll pull up the Dodger radio feed and listen to the rest of that game. (All times CST).

This is not a paid advertisement, but if you like baseball on the radio like I do, a SiriusXM subscription is a must. With the sports package, you can get the radio feeds for every MLB game. And you can listen on your phone! Whereas in your car, the subscription usually only includes the home feed, it also comes with access to their phone app where you can listen to the away feeds too. It’s like the MLB TV package, but for radios!

My wife is a big Cubs fan. I do not hold that against her. She typically watches the games on the TV in the living room via MLB with the sound down so that she can listen to the radio feed on her phone, since she likes the Cubs radio guys. Assuming the world goes back to normal, for the upcoming Christmas, I plan on surprising her with a couple of tickets to see a Cubs game at Wrigley next June (including air fare and hotel for two people). I can’t go with her since my injuries prevent me from traveling, so I’ll cover the cost for her to take a friend with her.

Until next time, Dear Readers, take care of yourselves. And each other.

L.H.