The interminable offseason is now officially over, as 2018’s Opening Day is here. That means no more talk about free agency or contracts or labor dispute or — Hahahah! — I’m just kidding. We are definitely still going to write about all of that stuff, too, it’s not going away from us or the game itself.
It’s MLB Opening Day!
Thursday’s Say Hey, Baseball is happy to tell you that it’s finally Opening Day.
Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images
We’ll take a break for right this moment, though, because — hey, baseball games! And more importantly, baseball games that count.
Which game should you watch? You certainly have your pick, as all 30 teams are playing. Well, OK, 28 teams are playing because of the rain that forced Cincinnati to reschedule their Opening Day, but the plan was all 30, so we had to mention that.
Opening Day being for everyone once again is a wonderful change, as Grant Brisbee detailed in this feature looking at the all-over-the-place recent history of Opening Day, which just last year was referred to as “Opening Week.” There’s photo evidence and everything.
You don’t want to read anything else, so we’ll cut things short today. Get out there and figure out how you’re going to avoid working so you can watch as much of this 13-hour block of baseball that counts that you can.
- Grant Brisbee ranked the Opening Day matchups for you, so outside of catching your favorite team in action, you can figure out what other games to watch and why.
- You’ve got a few hours left before the games actually start, of course, so why don’t you take a look at our MLB season preview while everything in it still has the potential to be correct?
- These are the win-now and win-later teams of the 2018 season, and also the Mariners are there.
- Speaking of the Mariners, here’s a blowout on their last 16 years from the Seattle Times.
- Players are “agitating” for the removal of MLBPA executive director Tony Clark, who doesn’t have a background as a labor lawyer.
- The Philies waved the white flag over 1,000 days ago, but they’re ready to take it down now.
- Here’s Alexis Brudnicki on the Great Australian Home Run Spike.
- And here’s a feature at The Hardball Times on potential errors in Statcast pitch data.
- Sorry to end on a sad note, but, Mets’ legend Rusty Staub has died after a battle with health issues.
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