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On the morning of Opening Day, from the Northeast to the Bay, from Southern California to the St. Louis Arch, hope springs eternal. And while that illusion may be shattered for some by the very next morning, on Opening Day, there it sits, fluttering in front of each fan’s eyelids like a shimmering mosaic.
Everything could go wrong. Everything could go right. But even the pessimists among us have time on their ledger to yearn for the latter.
Ahead of Opening Day, we spoke to fans across the country about how they embrace the start of the regular season, and what meaningful traditions they’ll carry on this season (and in perpetuity). Some fans looking forward to a reawakening make certain to be a part of it, especially relishing the home opener. Joining the crowd can reinvigorate the senses, after all.
“We take off work and go to the game in St. Louis," says Beth and Ryan, both down in Jupiter for Cardinals spring training. "We have season tickets. It’s something that we’ve been doing for 14 years now. We enjoy being part of the crowd, and even how people who don’t have tickets to the game enjoy being part of the crowd and part of the scene.”
Taking the day off work
“We live close, so we bike to Nationals Opening Day every year,” said Krystal, a Nationals fan, as she kept track of a spring training showdown with the Astros diligently in her brought-from-home scorebook. “I love the music they play. It’s my happy place.”
Some love the bombast and the ostentatious signal of the new year and new opportunities to come. Others associate Opening Day with relaxation and immersion; the most common Opening Day tradition involved taking the day off work, muting all distractions and sitting at home to watch the games unfold, one by one, like the first 15 pages of a marathon read no diehard has the power to put down.
“I take the day off from work and watch all the baseball. I don’t think we’ve ever actually been to an Opening Day,” shared Tim, a Cardinals fan in a custom beach-themed jersey.
Immersing in culinary traditions
Ryan, a Cubs fan who resides in Houston (with his son, spotted sprinting from foul line to foul line to collect autographs during a spring showdown), has a culinary tradition that marks the new year: “Every Opening Day, we eat hot dogs and chili for dinner at home.”
Opening Day is a dinner bell and a reminder of home, but many fans have had to adjust to a change in proximity. You can’t always go home again, but you can at least watch it to see what home looks like from afar.
Yearning of home
Dan, wearing a Yankees jersey and black-and-blue Marlins hat at New York’s spring training showdown with the Cardinals, shared that he’d be in the Bronx every year if he could. “When I lived in New York, I would do New York. Now, it’s a bit of a ride.”
“To me, it should be a national holiday. It’s like New Year’s,” he continued. “Football’s over, all the other stuff. Time to focus on baseball.”
And, yes, Dan also had his own scorebook, brought from home and meant to catalog a game that did not count in the standings.
The reason so many people yearn to be a part of the windy late-March Opening Day proceedings is because they feel equally magical, whether your seats are in section 344 or the dugout. Before they were lined up on the white chalk sidelines, your favorite MLB players shared these familiar feelings from the other side.
Skipping school
"I skipped school as a senior in high school," said San Francisco Giants third baseman Jake Lamb. "I grew up in Seattle. That was the year that Griffey Jr. came back to the Mariners and me and some buddies skipped school. It was a day game. Didn’t tell mom and dad about that one."
Do they know now?
"Yeah," he said, laughing. "We bounced out of school early and I never did that," Lamb made sure to note. "But for some reason I’m like, “Oh, they’ll understand. Went and watched Griffey’s first game."
Cherishing moments with loved ones
They almost certainly understood. We all understand. In 2022, reliever Lou Trivino's Oakland A's visited the Philadelphia Phillies for their road opener, and Trivino earned the rare opportunity to be a fan and a player, simultaneously.
"Being a Philly fan growing up, we were there with my whole family, bunch of friends," Trivino told FanSided. "Those were my favorite Opening Days. Just a lot of being out early before the game and being out late after the game. I remember my wife was there and we had like 50 people come out on the field taking pictures. There’s a lot of teams that don’t like people coming out on the field like that, but they were like “Oh go ahead! Come on out!”
Your Opening Day debut
Jordan Hicks, the righty who's now a starter in San Francisco, was once a stopper in St. Louis, sprinting past the Clydesdales (and Beth, and Ryan...) to make his presence known in Game 1. His first Opening Day remains his most memorable, though, on the road at Citi Field.
“Probably my debut. It was a cold, misty day. We were down 8-1 and I came in. I ran out there, excited to be there," Hicks told FanSided. "It felt like another baseball game, except with 40,000 watching me. I remember getting my first strikeout — Jay Bruce — and having a clean outing."
"It felt like I was meant to be where I was, so that’s my best memory.”
Soaking up nostalgia — and optimism
Wherever you are on Opening Day is where you're meant to be. No matter how far you are from home physically, you've never been closer. And, if you cannot sleep the night before, you know exactly what the cure is — there isn't one. And there shouldn't be. There's no reason to silence that pesky hope and fluttering optimism.
"My Opening Day tradition starts the night before. My grandfather loved the movie Moneyball. Being that he had Alzheimer’s, he always wanted to watch 'that baseball movie'," shared Jacob, a Los Angeles Angels fan. "I’ve seen it too many times, so I watch it once a year the night before Opening Day. Then I follow it up with the 2002 Angels World Series documentary for good luck (it does not work)."
And then, every home opener for past 10 years (except 2020), Jacob takes his grandmother to the Angels game. "I hear all about the days where the stadium was surrounded by orange groves, and her love of Brian Downing, Bobby Grich and Don Baylor," he says. "I'm thankful for the memories made, and those I'm continuing to make, with that tradition."
That's the best part about traditions, after all. They continue.