Well, someone has to start the thread. Opening day is Thursday. And this year, that includes every single MLB team. This article at MLB.com by Joe Posnanski is a must read as he compares baseball in 1968 to today's game.
50 years ago, an Opening Day set apart
2018 only the second time all MLB teams will open on same day
Tragedy was at the heart of Opening Day in 1968. You have to go back that long -- 50 years -- to find the only other time every baseball team in the Majors opened on the same day. This will happen Thursday as a gigantic nationwide celebration of the game.And it happened in 1968, because baseball opened in the heartbreaking days after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
Every American sport went silent after the shooting of Dr. King. NBA and NHL playoff games were postponed. The PGA Tour pushed back its final round of the Greater Greensboro Open.
"A virtual three-day moratorium on sports, unprecedented in American history, is being offered in tribute to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.," United Press International reported.
But in 1968, it was one thing to postpone a golf tournament's final round. It was quite another to push back baseball's Opening Day, which was and is much closer to a national holiday. There was much discussion about what to do. Dr. King was shot Thursday evening, April 4, and President Lyndon Johnson declared Sunday a day of national mourning. Protest, looting and burning followed in numerous cities across America. Opening Day was scheduled in Washington and Cincinnati on Monday -- in those days, baseball always opened in Washington and Cincinnati -- but those were pushed back to Wednesday.
Tuesday was the day of Dr. King's funeral, and all the scheduled games except one were pushed back to Wednesday. Dodgers president Walter O'Malley almost until the final moment insisted that because their game began so late in the day for most of the country -- 11 p.m. ET -- there was enough separation from the funeral to make the game respectful. The game might have been played if not for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Dodgers' opponent, making it clear they would refuse to take the field and would forfeit the game. So O'Malley relented, and the Dodgers' opener joined the Wednesday slate.
"Mr. O'Malley is a man with tremendous ability," Jackie Robinson told a reporter, "but also a man with a total lack of knowledge of the frustration of the Negro community. It grieves me that Walter O'Malley did not understand the importance of the thing."
And so every team opened on April 10, 1968 -- the first time all 20 Major League teams opened the season together. It was a somber but unique day in baseball history. And looking back to Opening Day 1968 is a good way to see just how far baseball has come.
"There's something about Opening Day that gets to you whether you've been around 20 minutes or 20 years," Whitey Ford said. "Every man has his own private thoughts when they play that national anthem before the first pitch."
The rest of the article is a great read, as Posnanski might be the greatest sportswriter of our time.
Thanks for the link to the article. I'm looking forward to watching more baseball this season than I did last year.
I'm essentially boycotting the Rays this year because of their bs Longoria trade.
I'm essentially boycotting the Rays this year because of their bs Longoria trade.
Sadly, I see both Florida teams leaving the state eventually. There doesn't seem to be enough sustained interest in the sport. I'm surprised baseball does so poorly there, but it seems both teams have struggled there long enough, even after success, that I'm not sure there is a fix.
karmajay wrote:I'm essentially boycotting the Rays this year because of their bs Longoria trade.
Sadly, I see both Florida teams leaving the state eventually. There doesn't seem to be enough sustained interest in the sport. I'm surprised baseball does so poorly there, but it seems both teams have struggled there long enough, even after success, that I'm not sure there is a fix.
As far as TB they actually used to have high tv ratings and viewership. A big issue is the stadium itself (it is so so so bad) and the location. The city of St. Petersburg has been blocking the team trying to move closer to Tampa for years. If they do leave they will absolutely blame it on the city and they would be right. Trying to get to downtown St.Pete in the late afternoon early evening from Tampa or the outlying areas is a nightmare. There is zero public transit like in other urban style areas with teams.
Vlad G Jr hit a walk off yesterday for the Jays... In Montreal.
Not a small guy either. Packing a keg not a 6pack.
Can yall pray for sunshine please? Got tickets for my first opening day game in years and now the forecast calls for rain 
Vlad G Jr hit a walk off yesterday for the Jays... In Montreal.
Not a small guy either. Packing a keg not a 6pack.
I’ve never been an Expos or a Blue Jays fan, but that was beautiful. Even if it was great grooved.
Is it too early to panic about Josh Donaldson's throwing? Looked great getting to the ball but throwing it... yikes.
I have nothing to say here other than to describe John Sterling's HR call for Giancarlo Stanton as eeeeesh.
Also, that was possibly the most hilariously fitting way for the Marlins to kick off their season.
Is it too early to panic about Josh Donaldson's throwing? Looked great getting to the ball but throwing it... yikes.
They kept saying he was experiencing shoulder problems through training camp (it's why he played so little) and made the call to play this game. For the good of everyone, he should be DHing, Solarte at 3rd, and Morales only around for batting practice.
Astros beat the hated, bad people IRL Rangers yesterday, 4-1. I was streaming it and working during commercials. Dude in the office next to me was listening on the radio; damn real-time elitists.
So, Giancarlo Stanton versus Joe Panik in the home run derby?
Brian Wilson's beard migrated to the top of his head.
YouTube TV was tailor made for baseball with their 15 second FF/RW setting. Perfect for between pitches or rewatching a swing. I caught up live in the Brewers vs. Cardinals game last night. Never in the history of MLB did a game start with back-to-back HRs and end with B2B HRs until last night (Sorry Jayhawker, assuming you are a Cards fan). Almost happened on the first two and last two pitches as well. Fowler hit the first pitch of the game out then Pham on a 1-0 count. Braun hit the walk off on the first pitch following Yelich's bomb. Yelich is fun to watch. Such a pure swing and great in the field. Great contract and control as well. Fits like a glove into the Brewers line-up. Brewers in 2017 were 1-57 in games they trailed after 8 innings and are 2-1 in 2018.
313 pitches in this game.
Cards led for 311.
Tied for 1.
Brewers led for 1.
YouTube TV was tailor made for baseball with their 15 second FF/RW setting. Perfect for between pitches or rewatching a swing. I caught up live in the Brewers vs. Cardinals game last night. Never in the history of MLB did a game start with back-to-back HRs and end with B2B HRs until last night (Sorry Jayhawker, assuming you are a Cards fan). Almost happened on the first two and last two pitches as well. Fowler hit the first pitch of the game out then Pham on a 1-0 count. Braun hit the walk off on the first pitch following Yelich's bomb. Yelich is fun to watch. Such a pure swing and great in the field. Great contract and control as well. Fits like a glove into the Brewers line-up. Brewers in 2017 were 1-57 in games they trailed after 8 innings and are 2-1 in 2018.
313 pitches in this game.
Cards led for 311.
Tied for 1.
Brewers led for 1.
Yep, that was a real punch in the gut. That was a game they should have had locked down.
In regards to Youtube TV, I've been giving it a try, and you are right about baseball. But man, It's kind of brutal for watching regular TV. I wish we got a scroll. I'm really spoiled on TiVo because it has one button to instantly skip the entire commercial break. It doesn't just FF to the end of the break, it is an instant jump to back to the show. It doesn't work for sports or networks at don't provide the data, but it works for all of Network TV, and for most father cable channels we watch (AMC, FX, TNT, USA, but not Lifetime. I can't remember if Bravo does it.)
But a 15 second jump would be so much better for sports. Thirty seconds is too often too much.
I almost never watch regular TV and I haven't heard my wife complain about watching Survivor/Bachelor/other yet, so peachy keen in our house!
Ohtani just homered in his third straight game, matching a feat of the Babe as he first took up position play
— Jay Jaffe (@jay_jaffe) April 7, 2018
From before the Bambino to Shohei Ohtani: a history of double-duty players https://t.co/KueHGb51Ax
— Jay Jaffe (@jay_jaffe) April 6, 2018
Every Ohtani HR hurts just a little bit to watch because I talked myself into believing the Jays actually had a chance to sign him during the winter.
I do wonder how much the Jays pushed the Trump angle even though that would still matter over half the time.
Every Ohtani HR hurts just a little bit to watch because I talked myself into believing the Jays actually had a chance to sign him during the winter.
Yes, but were you this disappointed?
I am loving the Ohtani experience.
I am also impressed that I barely had to wait 10 games before being embarrassed by my fellow Yankee fans, who already want to trade Stanton and fire Aaron Boone.
My wife is asking whether the US has Ohtani fever or not. Can anyone confirm?
My wife is asking whether the US has Ohtani fever or not. Can anyone confirm?
Those interested in baseball in Canada certainly do. We're still also obsessed with anything Munenori Kawasaki, though.
My wife is asking whether the US has Ohtani fever or not. Can anyone confirm?
The conversation is definitely heating up. At this point I think everyone is watching to see if he can keep up the double threat throughout the season. If he does, he'll be THE story.
fenomas wrote:My wife is asking whether the US has Ohtani fever or not. Can anyone confirm?
The conversation is definitely heating up. At this point I think everyone is watching to see if he can keep up the double threat throughout the season. If he does, he'll be THE story.
Yeah I see a high level of interest in him but also waiting and seeing if he can keep it up after everyone has seen him and has a book on him. I've been watching as much as I can from the east coast (9-10PM PDT start times make it hard for me to catch him).
steinkrug wrote:fenomas wrote:My wife is asking whether the US has Ohtani fever or not. Can anyone confirm?
The conversation is definitely heating up. At this point I think everyone is watching to see if he can keep up the double threat throughout the season. If he does, he'll be THE story.
Yeah I see a high level of interest in him but also waiting and seeing if he can keep it up after everyone has seen him and has a book on him. I've been watching as much as I can from the east coast (9-10PM PDT start times make it hard for me to catch him).
A few weeks back some prominent scouts were calling for him to start the season in single A based on his spring training performance. Now he's damn near unstoppable on offense and defense so everyone is watching him.
Haha, the wife is pleased with your responses. 
He's been on and off the tv here since he was in high school and I figured he'd be some kind of phenom, but I thought he'd be starting in the minors as well. Really cool to see him popping off every which way, but you can't help wondering when there'll be a slump and how he'll handle it.
We're still also obsessed with anything Munenori Kawasaki, though.
What happened to that guy? The press over here said his team wanted to renew him over the winter but couldn't get in contact with him. Really sucked to see a great guy like that have such injury problems.
He's hyped enough for an onion article!
He went undrafted in my keeper fantasy league. I almost picked him up late, but despite all of the reasons there were to avoid his spring performance I let those numbers talk me out of it. Someone picked him up off of FA pretty quick though, lucky for them.
He keep showing up on the front page of CNN, so there is definitely some interest.
He's hyped enough for an onion article!
He went undrafted in my keeper fantasy league. I almost picked him up late, but despite all of the reasons there were to avoid his spring performance I let those numbers talk me out of it. Someone picked him up off of FA pretty quick though, lucky for them.
He keep showing up on the front page of CNN, so there is definitely some interest.
Ain't a thing until Ellen starts talking about him. When my wife asks me if I know who he is because Ellen just talked about him, THEN and ONLY THEN, will US fever status have been achieved.
The Ellen Standard has replaced the previous Oprah Standard of previous decades
Vector wrote:We're still also obsessed with anything Munenori Kawasaki, though.
What happened to that guy? The press over here said his team wanted to renew him over the winter but couldn't get in contact with him. Really sucked to see a great guy like that have such injury problems.
Basically the injuries piled up. Apparently there was a statement released by the Hawks but I couldn't find a link to it.
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