Last week saw Major League Baseball’s official Opening Day, but Thursday served as a chance for several teams that started their seasons on the road to christen their home ballparks for the 2018 season. From Boston to Philadelphia to Minneapolis, the festivities covered plenty of emotional ground.
We begin at Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies got a chance to forget about their rough first week under the guidance of Manager Gabe Kapler, who is … well, let’s just say he’s learning in his first year on the job. Fortunately for Phillies fans, they had Eagles Coach Doug Pederson on hand to participate in the opening ceremonies, and the Super Bowl champ didn’t disappoint.
Not only did Pederson remember to bring the Lombardi trophy, not only was his first pitch a strike, but he also wore the jersey of the late Roy Halladay, who died in a plane crash last fall at the age of 40. Halladay won 55 games with a 3.25 ERA over four seasons in Philadelphia, complete with a perfect game and a playoff no-hitter in the same season, 2010.
Pederson drew widespread praise for his classy appearance, and had Philly sports fans feeling good again. He may have even passed some of his recent success off on the Phillies, who blanked the Marlins, 5-0, for their second win of the season. Kapler was booed during introductions, which wasn’t unexpected. But Thursday’s win combined with Pederson’s residual sparkle certainly put a charge into a team that, to be sure, has had some early-season issues.
From there, we go north to Fenway Park in Boston, where the Red Sox opened up by beating the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-2, in extra innings for their sixth straight win after a bullpen meltdown on Opening Day. Among the participants in Boston’s pregame activities were Red Sox great David Ortiz and Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, who hails from Needham, Mass. The duo met at the mound to ceremonially get the season underway by announcing it was time to “Play Ball,” with Ortiz paying a lovely tribute to Raisman.
Finally, let’s visit Target Field, where the Minnesota Twins hosted the Seattle Mariners. The Twins decided to include a bald eagle flight as part of their pregame ceremony, which is fine unless you’re Mariners starter James Paxton, to whom the bird took quite an interest.
Paxton was unharmed, but, perhaps more importantly, had a solid sense of humor about the whole thing.
Nothing like shaking off a potential bald eagle attack to cap off a most eventful early-season afternoon in baseball.
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