and others who will pass the torch on to whatever iteration comes next. welcome an entire generation of younger fans to the sport, and as the images of Derek Jeter and Pudge Rodriguez and Barry Bonds on our screen got clearer, we soon began to pull up high-definition clips of Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Fernando Tatis Jr.
We saw Nolan Ryan span decades and Ken Griffey Jr. As Mickey Mantle and Henry Aaron took their turns in the spotlight, the image on the television bled from grays to blurry technicolor, beckoning Johnny Bench and Tony Gwynn. Soon, we could see Jackie Robinson sliding home, or Willie Mays hauling in an impossible fly ball. The names Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb and Cy Young uttered in a transatlantic drawl over scratchy AM radio waves were given shape and form as black-and-white television stopped trying to tell us what Ted Williams’ swing looked like and showed us. Things never stop changing.Īnd yet, while the ingredients cycle through, sometimes the recipe stays recognizable for generations. Things change, and then they change some more. Opening Day was supposed to be March 31, with the Yankees in town. A lockout loomed over baseball like a hot, black cloud for most of the offseason, putting the season in peril. But nevertheless, I choose to be grateful.Īfter all, we almost didn’t get an Opening Day this year. I’ll be watching the Rangers kick off the season on television with many of you.
RANGERS OPENIN DAY SERIES
Through a series of missteps (most of them my own), my passport didn’t make it back to Texas in time for me to travel to Toronto.
RANGERS OPENIN DAY HOW TO
Last year? Nobody knew how to feel about anything last year.Īnd it’s not as if Opening Day 2022 is going to be “the good old days,” at least not for me.
And for now, that will have to be enough - ring true to how I remember it). I don’t need to tell anyone how weird 2020 was, but here’s one example: I just re-read my Opening Day article from that July and I sincerely don’t remember writing a single word (though the final two lines - It’s not the same, but for now, it’s all we’ve got. The next year held a twinge of melancholy, knowing that it would be the last in a park that meant so much to so many. The last “normal” Opening Day for me was 2018 - my first at The Athletic. It balances delicately on that shaky fence between the desert of desperation and the boggy marsh of entitlement, acknowledging the peril of gravity but thanking the sinew in the legs, the strength in the core, and the fluid in the inner ears that keep it centered - for this moment, at least. I’m talking about capital-G Gratitude, real and humble as the dirt the mitochondria of happiness, the seed from which contentment sprouts. I don’t even mean the “well it could always be worse, be grateful your suffering isn’t as bad as someone else’s!” guilt that would have us bottle up every negative emotion. I hope the Rangers are right.To clarify: I’m not talking about gratitude in the way that those with enough power to ignore real problems say it: “You’ll take what you get, and you’ll like it - be grateful!“ Nor am I speaking of the sing-song “what’s the magic woorrrd?” lip-service politeness coaxed from us as children. While it is true that vaccination rates are increasing and caseloads of COVID-19 are dropping, we are not out of the woods yet. The Rangers say they’re “confident” that they won’t be a “super-spreader event,” per the linked article above. The Rangers will accommodate season-ticket holders who aren’t comfortable coming to games by loosening their standard exchange policy.
RANGERS OPENIN DAY FULL
Earlier Wednesday, the Texas Rangers announced that Globe Life Field would be open to its full capacity for two exhibition games and Opening Day:Įvery seat will be available - enough to accommodate 40,518 fans - for two preseason exhibition games against the Milwaukee Brewers on March 29-30 and the April 5 home opener.įans will be required to wear masks and follow other protocols that remain in place, such as maintaining social distancing while entering and exiting the ballpark and while in line at concession stands.Īfter Opening Day, the Rangers are going to sell tickets in “pods” similar to what’s going to be done at Wrigley Field:įollowing the home opener, the Rangers will offer socially distanced seating in some sections of the ballpark with seats available in pods of two or four.