It’s more than “just a game”…. It’s Opening Day

It’s been 1,342 days since the last game of the season at Globe Life Park.

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit BUT you get the point? Right? It’s been a long time coming but baseball season is finally back! Spring Training has wrapped up and the boys are back home. Ready to take on the FINAL SEASON at Globe Life Park before moving across the street to our new home at Globe Life Field!

For some people, this is honestly just another baseball game that starts the regular season. I get that, but for some of us fans it’s the game that brings everyone back together to kick off a brand-new season of excitement, cheers, tears, anxiety, wild superstitions and a little black book of curse words that we didn’t even think we knew. It’s a celebration with our friends and family.

Baseball is more than just a game… Baseball is family. Family is based on tradition. See where I’m going with this? Opening Day has become a tradition for so many people. Many people who have created these memories year after year, eventually passing them on to their children, so on a so forth.

Let me get personal for a moment.

My dad is an amazing man. He always found a way to get me to this game, even if he only had a dime to his name. He’d find a way to turn his dime into a dollar, knowing what it meant to me, what it meant to spend that day together. He made it happen. I cherish these moments with dad, year after year, knowing during the season work keeps him and I busy at different times. So, this is our day, our family tradition.… we laugh, we share a burger (or three) and a beer (or four), talking about who we think is going to thrive this season and what our season predictions are.

I remember seeing my grandfather tear up during the National Anthem in 2017 and him being completely taken away by the flyover shortly after. In that moment he was a kid again. I saw it in his eyes. I’ll never forget it. Ever.
It’s more than “just a game”.

Opening day is a huge party that we have to plan for MONTHS in advance, just so we have extra time to iron out all of the details.

We all have call into work because look, taking a day off to celebrate baseball is normal in Texas. We all set up our tailgates early in the morning and fire up the grill! We keep it going long into the early evening. We drink our beer, play corn hole, and eat until we have to unbutton our pants without shame. We enjoy the company of other crazy baseball fans (sometimes surpassing our crazy, but we don’t pass judgement) that are partying around us until we make our way into the stadium for the last Opening Day at Globe Life Park.

The smell of the fresh peanuts roasting, the hotdogs coming hot off the grill and being slathered in mustard, ketchup or relish for the go-getters. The anticipation of trying the new FOWL POLE – a 2 lb. chicken tender on the new 2019 menu, because you’d be crazy NOT to try that at least once. Buying an ice-cold beer in a souvenir cup that costs more than a six-pack of beer would by itself, but we buy them anyway because that’s what it’s all about!

Besides who doesn’t want to take home another Rangers cup to add to our extensive collection that busts out of our cabinets, right?

It’s all about our game day superstitions that make us seem crazy, but I promise you… IT’S A THING and YES, IT MATTERS. It’s the distinct sound of the bats cracking during batting practice and standing in the home run porch area hoping to catch one of them. It’s the excitement and glow on a child’s face because they’re getting to miss school to watch their favorite team, and they’ll patiently stand there praying for an autograph from behind the dugout.
And honestly, who wouldn’t.

It’s the memories we make year after year. It’s the way the National Anthem is sung amongst the crowd that brings tears to our eyes, followed by the excitement of seeing a flyover so immaculate it takes your breath away. It’s the joy we get out of hearing our teams starting lineup for the first time that season and thinking about how different it’s going to be for the last game of the season.

We celebrate all of the new additions to our team and make them feel at home here in Texas. And we welcome all of those returning back to us for another season. We scream out from our seats as if we know what’s best for our team because, after all, managing the game from the cheap seats is what we do. It’s all about the laughs, the occasional boo’s and the way everyone gets annoyed by the drunk guy who started the wave way out in left field. (NOT judging you guy in left field…) (Actually….Yes I am)

It’s the Adrian Beltre home run from the knee we are all going to miss this season. Joey Gallo’s bomb out of the park that throws us out of our seats with excitement. Elvis’ beautiful double play that leaves us in awe. And we can’t forget Choo’s cannon from right field to hose the runner at the plate.

The fireworks.

We live it, we breathe it, and we can’t wait for it. It’s therapeutic and it’s finally upon us. Like I said, at the end of the day it’s MORE than JUST a game, it’s our tradition… It’s Opening Day.

In the famous words of our pal Chuck Morgan… IT’S BASEBALL TIME IN TEXAS!

Let’s prove ’em wrong.

#TogetherWe

Game 1 of 162. LET’S GO! Happy Opening Day, y’all.

Prove 'em wrong. #TogetherWe pic.twitter.com/8rUBXE6SFu

— Vote Adolis (@Rangers) March 27, 2019