It’s been too long.  After a shamefully long absence, I’ve returned
to celebrate OPENING DAY.  

Last night was one of the best starts to a
baseball season I’ve had in a while. 
Friends, Sunday Night Baseball, the voice of Jon Miller, and Taco Bell
were all included; fine dining is a very important component of a baseball
game.  Now we’re finally back to
the baseball grind!

Seeing as this is Opening Day, I haven’t
watched a whole lot of ball yet. 
So, I thought I would ask: with only 161 games remaining for a lot of
teams, what games or series are you most looking forward to in the regular
season?  Also, for those of you who
are die-hard fans of one team, what team besides your own favorite are you most
looking forward to watching?

I’m pretty excited to watch the Mets this
year.  While I’m still not sure
they deserve that World Series Champ prediction from SI, their lineup is
formidable: Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran are all excellent
players.  Also, I’m looking forward
to watching the Blue Jays’ Travis Snider. 
He’s a rookie left-fielder, and as I write this, he’s gone 2-for-3 with
a run scored in the Blue Jays vs. Tigers game still in progress. 

Obviously, I haven’t exhausted every source
of every source of information here, so I’d love to know what games and players
you are most looking forward to watching this season. 

On that note, I’ve been thinking about how
to keep my blog more in line with my original idea of picking the “Best of
162.”  I don’t want to do a straight
recap of everything that happens, but my plan is to note especially great
performances, plays, teams, players, games, etc.  And while the focus will definitely be on the game of
baseball, I love hearing great stories that have anything to do with baseball
in general (like a great manager tirade or press conference quote).  All this goes to say:  I’ll have my eyes peeled, but if you
come across anything, please let me know! 
I want to keep dialogue running and hear from everyone about what they
think is the “Best of 162!”

Happy Opening Day!  

(Also, thanks to a Chicago White Sox billboard from two years ago; I stole the phrase “Back to the Grind” used in a baseball context from it.)