Jonah Heim takes blame for controversial play in Rangers' Opening Day win

Baseball season is back. I know this not because 26 MLB teams played their first game yesterday, nor because Tyler O'Neill christened the season for the fifth consecutive year with a home run. I know this because it's not really baseball season until the umpires make a controversial call.

Last night's Cubs-Rangers game was one of the premier matchups of Opening Day. The Rangers were riding high following the first World Series title in franchise history, while the Cubs were hoping to ride the momentum of last season's late push and the hiring of new manager Craig Counsell into an even better season and a possible NL Central division title this year.

The game featured a little bit of everything. Cody Bellinger, back in Chicago after a protracted free agent period this offseason, laced an RBI double to give the Cubs the lead. Cubs ace Justin Steele exited the game with a hamstring injury, while Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford legged out an infield hit in his Major League debut. Adolis Garcia even picked up where he left off last season, crushing a game-tying homer in the sixth.

All of this was almost overshadowed by a controversial play in the ninth. With the game tied and runners on first and second, Cubs hitter Miles Mastrobuoni appeared to foul tip a low pitch from Rangers reliever Jose Leclerc, but home plate umpire Chad Fairchild ruled that no contact was made. Rather than quickly retrieve the ball, Texas catcher Jonah Heim protested the call, which allowed Michael Busch to score the go-ahead run from second base.

Replays showed that Mastrobuoni did in fact foul the pitch off, but Heim took responsibility for his role in allowing the run to score after the game. Luckily for him, he was able to do it with a smile on his face, as a pinch-hit homer by Travis Jankowski in the bottom of the ninth allowed Heim to redeem himself with a walk-off single in the 10th.

Jonah Heim's error nearly cost the Rangers the game, but he made the most of his chance at redemption one inning later

"I take full responsibility for what happened...I should have finished the play. That's all on me," said Heim. "I'm glad Travis came up and tied the game there with a big swing. I'm gonna buy him a dinner or something."

Heim's game-winning hit overcame not only his costly mistake in the field, but an 0-4 day that saw him strike out twice and leave two runners on base. It seems that we can't go a day in the sports world without a controversial call making headlines, so it was great to see Heim come through when it mattered most.

Young athletes are taught all the time to play through the proverbial whistle. Heim's gaffe was relatable, if extremely avoidable, but part of what makes baseball so great is that vindication is often only a few pitches away. Baseball really is back.