Ah, springtime. The days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer, and Americans begin to think about baseball. Actually, thinking about baseball probably begins around Valentine's Day, when most pitchers and catchers are reporting to their respective spring training facilities.
Most teams make a big deal out of Opening Day. Fans are ready to greet new players and get reacquainted with the veterans. It feels like the curtains have been opened after that "long winter's nap," and it's finally time to play ball. Maybe I am biased, but there is nowhere else in the country where the first day of the new baseball season is celebrated quite like St. Louis.
Good Morning from Baseball Heaven! #ForTheLou pic.twitter.com/qDcAxidUAT
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 4, 2024
St. Louisans joke about making Opening Day a holiday. But it is definitely an unofficial holiday in the Gateway City. There are plenty of people who will count down the days until Christmas, beginning the day after Christmas. We might not start that early, but in St. Louis, we plan our baseball holiday months in advance. We take the day off work, even if we aren't going to the game. We want to be somewhere around other fans. People even take their kids out of school for the day. Because after all, Opening Day in St. Louis is also a history lesson.
Only in St. Louis, could a game scheduled to start at 3:15 p.m. have a lead-up beginning at 10:00 a.m. A pep rally, followed by the Cardinals' faithful getting a good look at players when the team takes batting practice is up first. But it is after that, that the history lesson begins. There are only a handful of teams, the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Red Sox, and baseball's oldest all-professional team, the Cincinnati Reds, that have the amazingly rich history that the St. Louis Cardinals have.
Baseball simply cannot commence in St. Louis without a trip around the stadium by the Budweiser Clydesdales. It is the first nod of the day to St. Louis' and the Cardinals' Busch family beer heritage. Today, more recent Hall-of-Famers will be rolled out in, of course, shiny spanking-new red Mustangs. Names like Ozzie Smith, "the secret weapon" Jose Oquendo, Ray Lankford, Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, and Willie McGee. But, it is also the time when St. Louis pays homage to those who came before--the ones we remember, the ones who made the summers of our childhood that much better, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Joe Torre, Red Schoendienst, and Stan the Man.
It’s go time!! #OpeningDay #ForTheLou pic.twitter.com/vj2aLcRD3m
— Nolan Arenado (@NolanArenado28_) March 28, 2024
That history continues to be played out in an outside walk around Busch Stadium. In addition to Stan Musial, names I already mentioned are immortalized. Schoendienst, Brock, Gibson, Smith. They are joined by Ted Simmons and names from the game's golden age, Enos Slaughter, Dizzy Dean, and Rogers Hornsby. A good guess is that the next addition to that elite club that stands guard around the stadium will be Albert Pujols.
History even permeates the Cardinals' broadcast booth. Hall-of-fame (we say that a lot) Broadcaster Jack Buck's son Joe sat in that booth for a time calling balls and strikes for his hometown team. Then it was another hometown boy, Mike Shannon and his "Get up, baby! Get up, get up" home run call. Now, that job has been passed to more living history, the great Harry Caray's grandson Chip Caray.
Throw in the sea of red worn by Cardinals fans, including my own offering, a red T-shirt with former catcher Yadier Molina on it. OK, to be honest, it says "Yadi is a hottie," but that's a topic for another day. Bottom line, if you are anywhere near St. Louis on Thursday, red is the color of choice.
There are a lot of very serious things going on in the country and around the world right now. Things that can very easily divide us and make us angry. But in St. Louis, for at least one day, we get to come together, and for the same reason, we are all seeing red.
Today the the holiest of holy days in St. Louis. Cardinals Home Opener! Bring on the Clydesdales !! pic.twitter.com/fjLrCH5UrP
— PaulHuber (@PaulHuber) April 4, 2024
