Your Opening Day 2012 Post

I read an article in the New York Times the other day that should be required reading of any close friend of mine. Maybe that’s because basically all of my close friends like baseball or it’s at the very least been what has sewn us together in the first place. The article was called ‘What Baseball Does to the Soul’.

A couple of things I like from this article I’m requiring you to read if you already haven’t on Opening Day Eve:

  1. This is what baseball can do to the soul: it has the ability to make you believe in spite of all other available evidence.
  2. Baseball does what all good sports should do: it creates the possibility of joy.
  3. It confirms that life is not static. There is so much more left to be lived.

That’s really just a few of the reasons that it’s a great read, and why Opening Day is a celebration of hope. And changing seasons. And new beginnings.

I say it every year in this annual post: we could truly see anything tomorrow. We could see anything this season. That’s what makes tomorrow and the next several months to follow so special. Let your mind dream for a minute on what might be in store for this 2012 season.

We could see Jay Bruce win the National League HR title. We could see Jay Bruce become the MVP. How many bombs is Giancarlo Stanton going to hit? Will Adam Dunn rebound to be the Adam Dunn we all grew up watching? Are the Anaheim Angels going to roll to the World Series Miami Heat style? How’s Pujols going to adjust to American League pitching?

This will also be the year that we get acquainted with Bryce Harper for the first time–and we’ll get to know Mike Trout a lot better perhaps. Your fantasy teams are looking pretty solid right now, and every day is your chance at redemption for last year’s poor showings amongst your peers.

How many knocks will Joey Votto get towards earning that new big contract? How will Prince and Miggy fare together in Motown? Cubs fans have hope until the games are played tomorrow. The bad news is so do the Twins, Astros, and Orioles as well. Everyone’s in first place again.

The spring will quickly fade into summer and the seasons will change, and soon we’ll be doing this exercise all over again. Baseball will still be there for us, going on; happening. No clock involved. When we’re at the park, time will stand still for just a few hours after walking through the turnstiles before we have to walk opposite way out of those same entry points and return to reality.

It’s the greatest sport on earth, and it’s begun again. It’s time to savor the moment and enjoy it. As you take it all in tomorrow, baseball is good for the soul because the possibilities are unlimited and it allows you to dream where most other things in life do not. And remember on Opening Day, you might just see anything.

Diamond Hoggers salutes you, the fan; on Opening Day 2012. Follow Diamond Hoggers on Twitter live from Opening Day in Cincinnati for the 8th straight year.