Opening Day Special Edition

Hello, and welcome to another season of Texas Rangers baseball! Pretty soon, fans will be spilling into the ballpark, admiring its new features, eating ballpark food, and getting that first whiff of the sweet green grass. Now to veer away from that alluring thought: 'Hello Win Column' has been around for a few months now, and it will only get better as the season goes on. As a special Opening Day treat, fellow writer Jonathan Page has given the site a new design, which I hope you love as much as I do. Also, I'd like to mention John Paul's fiance Regina, who created the incredible graphic at the top of the page. Wonderful work, and four stars to Page and Regina for helping to make this site even more visually appealing. Enjoy.

Over the last several years, the Rangers have played ‘Opening Day’ on the road, which is just another reason why sometimes the schedule seems ‘unfair.’ But this year, the Rangers made it clear that they wanted to start the season at home, and sure enough they got their wish. But regardless of whether the Rangers (and every other team) start the season at home or on the road, they will always have their ‘home opener,’ which is a special event and is always considered the ‘Opening Day’ of the baseball season.

Since I became a Rangers fan in 2002, the home opener has always been an electrifying occasion, a time when all duties are laid to rest for those precious few hours in which the Rangers make their grand introduction to the fans for the first time. There is always extra disappointment if they lose the opener, but if they secure a victory, a surge of enthusiasm begins as the high expectancies are instigated, though too often they are laid to rest within the first month or two of the season. Nonetheless, Opening Day is the beginning of the season when anything can happen, when all teams are equal (though it’s obvious that some teams are much better than others even at the start), and when the spirit of the game is at its best. For me, and many others as well, the home opener means skipping school to watch the game. Since 2002 there have been some sour moments in the home openers, times when you feel that you’ve been cheated almost. But coupled with those unfortunate events are some moments that warrant a special place in my baseball pocketbook. Here’s a look at how those occasions, good and bad, turned out:

April 5th, 2002. The Rangers opened with their biggest crowd in history. 49,617 crammed into the seats to watch a terrific ballgame, though unfortunately the result was not one to remember. The Rangers played the Angels and the two teams were dead even at one run apiece for the first six innings. Then Ranger nemesis Troy Glaus pounded a two run four-bagger to propel Anaheim to a 3-1 lead, which ended up being the final score. Ismael Valdes surprisingly pitched eight solid innings, but received very little support from the Ranger offense.

April 4th, 2003. Again, Ismael Valdes pitched the opener, and again the Rangers lost, though this time to the Seattle Mariners. Valdes pitched well (3 runs in 6 innings), but the bullpen struggled late, as we are all too well accustomed to. Hank Blalock and Ruben Sierra homered. Final score: 6-4.

April 9th, 2004. 2004 has been my favorite season as a Rangers fan, and the home opener, like the entire 2004 season, did not disappoint. Though Alex Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, and Rafael Palmeiro donned new uniforms, The Rangers’ young bats came alive as they beat the Angels 12-4 in a quintessential Ranger mashing. Hank Blalock hit a three run homerun (continuing his tradition of home opener long balls, which came to an end in 2007) and R.A Dickey earned the victory, as he held the Angels in check for most of the game. Surpassing the record opening crowd in 2002 by 753, the Rangers gained momentum with that wild victory and didn’t lose it until late in September.

April 11th, 2005. After contending for the playoffs in 2004, expectations were high for the Rangers coming into 2005. Though the season started off promising, all hope was lost by August. That’s how the 2005 home opener went, too. The Rangers seemed to be in pretty good shape, but when starter Kenny Rogers was taken out, the Angels bats attacked the Rangers' bullpen, and all hope was washed down the drain. The game was actually quite thrilling, as the Rangers’ bullpen gave up several runs, tying the score at 6-6. The game went to extra innings, as the crowd of 50,054 went berserk. But then Orlando Cabrera spoiled the afternoon by connecting for a homerun on the first pitch from R.A. Dickey in the top of the 10th. Moral of the story: keep Kenny Rogers in the game if he’s in control.

April 3rd, 2006. Another record crowd (51, 541) and another home opener loss, this time to the Boston Red Sox, who sent Curt Schilling to the hill to face off against Kevin Millwood, the Rangers’ new Ace. Schilling brought his A game and was practically unhittable, while Millwood struggled, giving up five earned runs in five innings. The only main offensive spark the Rangers got was a two run homerun from Hank Blalock in the sixth inning.

April 6th, 2007. One of the more chilly home openers in recent memory, the Rangers got their revenge against the Red Sox, shutting them out 2-0, thanks to Robinson Tejeda’s brilliant performance, one of the few he had in 2007. Of course the big news surrounding this game was the presence of Sammy Sosa, who ended up knocking in one of the two Ranger runs. Akinori Otsuka pitched the ninth to earn the Save.

April 8th, 2008. We can only hope that Eric Nadel’s somewhat wild ceremonial first pitch did not influence starter Jason Jennings, who was all over the place with his pitches, walking four in 4 2/3 innings. The Rangers hosted the Baltimore Orioles and there was very little to cheer about in the 8-1 loss. Ian Kinsler drove in the Rangers’ lone run on an RBI single, but by then the Rangers were already down six runs and it didn’t really matter much.

It is evident that many of the home openers have not been memorable as far as the score goes, but the sheer fact of baseball starting up again in Arlington gives reason to jump around cheering. Today, another home opener awaits, as Kevin Millwood (once again out to prove himself to the Rangers and the fans) faces off against last year’s AL Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee, who had a catastrophic Spring Training, going 0-3 with a 12.46 ERA in 20+ innings. I think the Rangers definitely have the upside, though it would be just like Cliff Lee to suddenly burst into the season with a shutout (his ERA went from 6.29 in 2007 to 2.54 in 2008).

Need I say more except "Go Texas Rangers!"