Opening Day

Well, I've been away for awhile. Today is opening day in major league baseball. Or was it last night? I don't know. I can't keep track. It's hard here in Denver, Colorado. Because who cares? We have nothing to look forward to but another lackluster season from the Colorado Rockies. The debate this morning seems to be whether or not the Rockies will be able to surpass the 70-win milestone this season. I'm going to go ahead and say yes. My reasoning has nothing to do with my evaluation of the pitching staff or any assumptions about Troy Tulowitzki staying healthy. The Rockies won 73 games in 2011, dipped to 64 in 2012, rebounded to win 74 in 2013, before falling back to 66 in 2014. It's an odd numbered year, so that means that the Rockies should win at least 70 games. I'll make my official prediction 72-90, good for 4th in the NL West.

I was excited as anyone when Colorado finally got a major league team in 1993. Before that, the closest big league stadium was located in Kansas City or Arlington, Texas. However, I selected as the team of my youth the Cincinnati Reds. My favorite player was Eric Davis, their swift centerfielder who was dangerous with the bat and glove as well as on the bases. He homered 27 times and stole 80 bases in 1986 and followed that up with 37 home runs and 50 steals in 1987. He was also known to make fabulous over the fence grabs to rob the opposition of home runs. I loved the uniforms and had a couple of Cincinnati Reds hats. I became acquainted with their history - supposedly the oldest major-league team, dating back to the 19th century - their glory days came when they were known as the Big Red Machine during the 1970s and won the World Series the year I was born. I tolerated their flaws - most notably the fact that their owner at the time, Marge Schott, was more or less a racist, and that their manager and most famous player in club history, Pete Rose, was banned for betting on baseball in 1989.

The Reds won the World Series in 1990, led by manager Lou Pinella, Eric Davis, shortshop Barry Larkin, third baseman Chris Sabo, pitcher Jose Rijo, and the "Nasty Boys" Rob Dibble, Randy Myers, and Norm Charlton. That was probably the apex of my life as a baseball fan. I still have all four games of that World Series on tape and recently burned it over to DVD - their four-game sweep of the "mighty" Oakland A's. I followed the Reds less and less as the years passed by. Eric Davis was traded to the Dodgers in 1992. The Rockies arrived on the scene in 1993. I graduated from high school in 1994 and left on a two-year mission in 1995. School, marriage, family all followed soon after, and now I barely follow baseball at all anymore, let alone a specific team. I'm usually aware of what's going on with the Rockies, not because I'm a huge fan but because I live here and that's what gets talked about most often.

I did follow the run of the Kansas City Royals to the World Series last year, even watched a few of the games. It reminded me of the 1980s, when there were good teams in places like Kansas City, Minnesota, Oakland, and Cincinnati and it wasn't just all about the stupid Red Sox and Yankees.

So anyways, happy opening day! Maybe I can pay a little closer attention this year.