Opening Day – 2025

Mar 28, 2025

“There’s nothing like Opening Day. There’s nothing like the start of a new season. I started playing baseball when I was seven years old and quit playing when I was 40, so it’s kind of in my blood.” ~ George Brett

Opening Day is magical, always has been, always will be. Right after the World Series ends, well maybe five minutes after anyway, I go into a depression, a “blue funk” if you will. I long for games and begin to look forward to those beautiful four words, “pitchers and catchers report”. From there, it’s only a few short weeks until this day each season, Opening Day. It really should be a National Holiday (The White Sox Home Opener always was and still is in my family.) I have fond memories of going to openers with my grandfather and uncle, and then of course taking my three kids over the years. Bonding at its best.

(Found on the internet. Assuming Public Domain.)

All the teams start with a clean slate. The possibilities are endless when the current standings are “0-0” across the board. Of course, this year, The Dodgers and Cubs played a two-game series in Tokyo, Japan which resulted in the Dodgers winning both, so the Dodgers go into today’s games 2-0 and the Cubs are 0-2 (still think it’s a ridiculous idea as they play two games that count for the regular season, but play spring training games when they come back). We look forward to our team leading from the first game through the end of the season. We know in our hearts that our favourite player will have yet another fabulous season. We may be cold, but we know that just around the bend there will be beautiful sunny afternoons in the stands and pleasant nights as well. We know there will be no-hitters (hate the “combined no-hitters” scenario – let the pitchers pitch and hit), amazing plays, unbelievable catches, game winning hits and an endless stream of games to enjoy. Everything is possible. Can you imagine anything better? I know I can’t.

(Found on the internet. Assuming Public Domain.)

So, what did occur on Opening Day, March 27, 2025? Funny you should ask. I thought I had cleared my personal training schedule except for an 8:30a class, but some responsibilities pushed their way back into my day. I had to do a photo shoot for my position at Lockport Challenge Fitness, then off to Crash Champions to get an estimate on my car repairs (my new Toyota Corolla which I bought the end of September, was hit while parked in the Woodridge ARC parking lot last week, it only has 5500 miles on it), then over to the Verizon store to upgrade from our current iPhone 13 to the iPhone 16, but I still made it home in time to catch a pregame show on ESPN. Here’s the outcomes and some highlights.

New York Yankees / Milwaukee Brewers at 2:05p C.T. – Yankees won 4-2.

Yankees catcher Austin Wells leads off the season with a HR; the first catcher ever to do this.

Baltimore Orioles / Toronto Blue Jays at 2:07p C.T. – Orioles won 12-2.

Philadelphia Phillies / Washington Nationals at 3:05p C.T. – Phillies won 7-3.

Alec Bohm hit a 2-run double to break the tie and J.T. Realmoto hit a two-run triple for the Phillies to go ahead and get the victory in the 10^th.

Boston Red Sox / Texas Rangers at 3:05p C.T. – Red Sox won 5-2.

Wilyer Abreu had a 3-run homer in the 9^th for the Red Sox.

Los Angeles Angels / Chicago White Sox at 3:10p C.T. – White Sox won 8-1.

Derrick Rose, the retired guard of the Chicago Bulls, threw out the first pitch. Tim Anderson, the former White Sox player, now with the Angels received a nice ovation from the crowd, classy move Sox fans! Sox pitcher, Sean Burke (his first opening day roster appearance and start) went a solid 6 innings. Penn Murfee struck out the side in the 7^th.Austin Slater had a HR in the 2^nd inning, and Miguel Vargas had a 2-run double. Andrew Benintendi had a 3-run HR and Lenyn Sosa added a 2-run HR in the 8^th. Carn Booser struck out three in the 9^th, but unfortunately also gave up a HR before recording the last out.

Pittsburg Pirates / Miami Marlins at 3:10p C.T. – Marlins 5-4.

Dan Marino threw out the first pitch, he looked good. With the score tied 4 all in the bottom of the 9th, Nick Fortes hits his first triple since 2022. An intentional walk follows, and Kyle Stowers hit a single down the right field line for a walk-off RBI. It was the first “opening day walk-off” in Marlin’s history. Both Fortes and Stowers received a Gatorade shower during the post-game interview.

San Francisco Giants / Cincinnati Reds at 3:10p C.T. – Giants won 6-4.

Wilmer Flores hit a 3-run home for the Giants.

Cleveland Guardians / Kansas City Royals at 3:10p C.T. – Guardians won 7-4.

In 10 innings.

New York Mets / Houston Astros at 3:10p C.T. – Astros won 3-1.

Atlanta Braves / San Diego Padres at 3:10p C.T. – Padres won 7-4.

Gavin Sheets, the ex-White Sox outfielder, hit a HR to centerfield to tie the score at 4.

Minnesota Twins / Saint Louis Cardinals at 3:15p C.T. – Cards won 5-3.

The Cards Victor Scott II made an amazing running catch in the right-center field gap to save at least one run in the 6^th.

Detroit Tigers / Los Angeles Dodgers at 6:00p C.T. – Dodgers won 5-4.

Ohtani hits an opposite field HR to give the Dodgers 5 runs.

Chicago Cubs / Arizona Diamondbacks at 9:10p C.T. – Cubs won 10-6.

Athletics / Seattle Mariners at 9:10p C.T. - Mariners won 4-2.

Friday, March 28^th:

Colorado Rockies / Tampa Bay Rays at 3:10p C.T. –

You’ll have to check the box scores for this game.

(Bob Uecker and Vin Scully. Found on the internet. Assuming Public Domain.)

My first Opening Day without either Uecker or Vin. It’s just sad to think about it. But thanks for the memory’s gentlemen.

So, we had wins, losses, and extra innings (still not a fan of the runner on second to start the additional innings by the way). We had baseball and another 161 (for the most part) yet to come. It doesn’t get much better than that, at least in my book.

Thanks for reading.

~ Coach Mike

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