Time to Get All Dolled Up

Tomorrow. I have a hot date. Tigers baseball at 1:05 on 97.1 FM. I'll be on time. I'll be aflutter with nervous excitement. I've been waiting so long. Dan and Jim's voices will sound melodious. It will be almost like I am there. If I close my eyes, I'll be able to feel the rays and smell the grass, I swear.

Soon I'll be singing the "Opening Day Song." My family will be pleading with me to stop. Their entreaties will fall on deaf ears. I will belt out the silly verse like Aretha Franklin singing "Natural Woman"...except I don't have her flawless vocal quality. Too bad.

How do you ready yourself for the rites of Spring? What's special to you about Opening Day or Spring Training games? Can't wait to hear your first date or "Same Time Next Year" stories.

A Watched Pot...

Every time I click on the Tigers web site, the stinking countdown to Opening Day stares me in the face. It does not seem to be moving toward Opening Day at a rate I can bear. I am done with these Spring Training affairs. They are meaningless and stupid at this point in March. I'm ready for REAL baseball. Seven more days? I'm expected to wait seven whole days more to witness regular season ball?

To make matters worse, we open on the road, and the Opening Day game has first pitch going at 4:10 pm. Not the familiar 1:05, or even an acceptable 2:05, but four-freaking-ten. Even in Kansas City, you'd think an earlier start time would be preferable in early April. Whatever.

Who is going to the home opener? I am not, but I am going on Saturday, April 10 and Monday April 12. If either of those gets rained out, expect a tirade here. I kid, but I was in a huge funk last year when my first game got PPD. In 1997, I attended a frigid opener at Tiger Stadium. It was in the low 30s and the concrete beneath my boots turned my feet into ice chunks. I sent the husband out to get some hot chocolate, in hopes of warming my hands and insides. It was stone cold by the time he got back to our seats. Nice. I'm prepared for any weather, as long as the game gets played.

I have begun my daily rendition of the Opening Day Song. My family is already begging me to stop. Too bad. They've got to wait seven more days, just like I do.

The Opening Day Countdown Song

This is really embarrassing, but for some strange reason I feel obligated to admit to it.  Every year, as Opening Day draws near, I start singing a little made up ditty.  It's so short it doesn't really qualify as a song, and drives my family totally crazy.  My son literally begs me not to sing it.  I can't help it though.  I sing it every day until Opening Day arrives.  OK, I think I'm certifiable now.  Hope that didn't scare everyone away.  I think that in general, I'm a relatively "normal" person, but am admittedly a little gonzo over the Tigers.  BTW, don't ask me to post audio of the "song."  I really do want to retain a reader or two.

Opening Day

Now that Opening Day is in our sights, I've got some questions for you.

Do you have a tradition of attending Opening Day?  How many years running have you gone?

What's your most memorable Opening Day experience?

Have you ever attended the Tigers first game of the year when it was on the road?

For me personally, I don't feel compelled to attend Opening Day itself.  I have only gone twice, with mixed results.  Once in 1997, it was very frigid, near freezing, and although I was bundled as if I were in the Iditarod, it did not help one bit.  I remember sending my husband out to get some hot chocolate in hopes of warming my insides and my hands on it--and when he got back it was stone cold.  My feet were like chunks of frozen ice blocks, they felt heavy and stiff.  The weather dampened the fun a bit that day.

I shied away for a few years after that, waiting for fair weather.

Then, one year, right after work, I ran into a guy at the gas station.  The weather that day was absolutely incredible for April.  He had his Tigers gear on--a short sleeve t-shirt, and was all sun-kissed and beaming.  I knew right away he was coming from the game.  I asked him just to confirm, and he was so clearly on a baseball high that I vowed to go to Opening Day the next year, despite the capricious nature of April weather in Michigan.

My mom and dad happened to be coming into town around Opening Day, so I invited them to join me.  Their excitement, although not quite matching mine, added to the anticipation.  We couldn't have asked for a better day, the sun was out, the weather was in the low 50s, and our seats were pretty good--third row behind the visitors bullpen.  We watched Freddy Garcia warm up, and some fan heckled him mercilessly about his frosted highlights.  The little boy sitting next to us adopted my dad as grandpa for the day, sitting in his lap, stretching out--I think he almost fell asleep in my dad's arms at one point.  Funny how ballgames foster instant friendships.  We lost to the evil Chisox that day, but it was a near-perfect, memorable day nonetheless.

Since then, I've been content to attend one of the games of the first series.  I like it because it's a little less circus-like, a little more about the game.  This year, my first game isn't until the second series, although I may cave and buy tickets to the second game of the season on Saturday.

Please share your Opening Day stories to tide us over until Opening Day 2009 arrives.