“Opening Day is like Christmas, but warmer.”
-Pete Rose
For baseball fans, it is Christmas day. As they take the field today, every team, every manager (including the 12 new ones today) and every pitcher is without a single loss.
Early Wynn said it best:
“An Opener is not like any other game. There’s that little extra excitement, a faster beating of the heart. … You know that when you win the first one, you can’t lose ’em all.”
About those new managers?
IN WITH THE NEW
Twelve of the 30 Major League managers will open 2011 in charge of a team that had a different skipper on Opening Day 2010, with three of the 12 kicking off their managerial careers.Manager Team Years Record
Terry Collins NYM 6 444-434
John Farrell TOR 0 N/A
Kirk Gibson ARI 1 34-49
Fredi Gonzalez ATL 4 276-279
Clint Hurdle PIT 8 534-625
Don Mattingly LA 0 N/A
Mike Quade CHC 1 24-13
Edwin Rodriguez FLA 1 46-46
Ron Roenicke MIL 0 N/A
Buck Showalter BAL 12 916-856
Eric Wedge SEA 7 561-573
Ned Yost KC 7 512-574
Schedule of Opening Day Games
Thu Mar 31?
Tigers
10:05 AM
YankeesBraves
10:05 AM
NationalsBrewers
11:10 AM
RedsAngels
1:10 PM
RoyalsPadres
1:15 PM
CardinalsGiants
5:00 PM
Dodgers