Last night, the 2013 Major League Baseball season kicked off with all of the ceremonial pomp, circumstance, and hot dogs that one would expect from the National Pastime’s opener.
Photo R. Anderson
As part of Opening Day, all of the eyes of baseball were focused firmly on Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas thanks in part to a scheduling matter with ESPN that made the game between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros the only one in town.
Even pre game rain, that forced the roof to stay closed, couldn’t dampen the spirits of the over 41,000 fans in attendance.
As is normally the case when the Rangers come to town, the stands were full of supporters for both squads. Unlike in previous years though, where the lack of vocal Astros fans made it seem like a Rangers’ home game, the chants of Let’s go Rangers were enthusiastically drowned out by chants for the Astros.
Photo R. Anderson
When the Rangers and Astros took to the field at Minute Maid Park, it was more than a ball game between two in state and in division rivals. It was the continuation of a tradition as old as the game itself.
It marked the beginning of the season where anything is possible and everyone is tied for first place until that final out is tallied.
Before last night I had never watched Opening Day in person. I had attended the first home game of the Astros several times but it was never considered the Opening Night game for the entire league.
Photo R. Anderson
Of course aside from being the first game of the year, it was a statistician’s dream as the Astros took the field as an American League team for the first time in their 51-year history.
This fact leads to the inevitable list of firsts that will forever be in the record books.
Let us consider just a few of them.
First pitch by an Astro pitcher in the American League? Thrown by Bud Norris.
First member of the Astros to get an American League hit?
