The Boys of Summer

Boy am I happy baseball is BACK!!!

The banners, the home made signs, the thundersticks, foam fingers, smell of the grass, crack of the bat, fans begging for autographs, negotiating with security for better seats...those are the dog days of summer, hanging out at the ballpark!

Funny how I say summer. Today, on this the Opening Day of the 33rd Blue Jays season, snow fell in Toronto. I'm not kidding. When I woke up this morning, the temperature was 1 degree Celsius (about 33 F) and snow flakes were actually flying in the sky. It's sort of reminiscent of the first ever game in Jays history, where they had to get snowplows to help clear the field at Exhibition Stadium. But this is the Rogers Centre, we've got a roof, and rain or shine, we play ball! Games in the South Side of Chicago and Fenway were postponed due to similar inclement weather.

I wonder if this is going to be like the April we had in 2007, where about two dozen delays were blamed on the weather. Remember how the Cleveland Indians cancelled 4 games because a foot of snow fell courtesy of winds from Lake Erie and had to temporarily move to Milwaukee only to be met with 6 more inches of the white stuff? That was a brutally cold month, where I remember watching fans in Atlanta huddled together in blankets at Braves games. That was when the big sluggers were afraid to swing because it stung their hand badly if the ball struck the end of the bat.

Maybe we should be optimistic. They ARE forecasting the weather to turn much nicer by the Easter long weekend. I'm just glad baseball's back and be sure look for my predictions on the league standings tomorrow.

So the Jays have started the year 1-0. It was quite a game too, 12-5 the final score against the Tigers. Adam Lind is in all likelihood going to be the MLB leader in RBIs through the next couple of days. He collected 6 Ribbies tonight with a fabulous 4 hit performance. Travis Snider knocked a home run. Vernon Wells smashed a double in the first. Every Jay had a hit. Now, if the pitching could hold up, and our offense keeps pounding opponents night after night like this, the Jays could capture the division crown.

There was some very appalling fan disturbances at the Rogers Centre tonight. People were throwing objects onto the field, and the game was almost forfeited in Detroit's favour. It was just nasty stuff, and I hope it doesn't ever happen again!

-D