Happy Opening Day!

There was a story last week on how Major League Baseball had organized a petition to make Opening Day a national holiday. (Turns out, while they did reach the required 100,000 signatures to get the White House to take a look at their petition, it's not going to be a national holiday anytime soon...) But seeing as today IS Opening Day of the 2014 baseball season, it just another sign summer can't be too far off.

Growing up in Wisconsin, I was a devoted Milwaukee Brewers fan when I was a kid. In the early 80's, my dad and my brother and I would usually get to one game every summer at Milwaukee's old County Stadium. And even though I can't hear their games on the radio or see them on Fox Sports, I still follow the Crew-- mainly on the MBL At-Bat app on my phone.

Of course, seeing as I grew up in central Wisconsin-- where it was closer to head to the Twin Cities to see a major league baseball game than it was to drive all the way down to Milwaukee-- I also grew liking the Twins, too. In fact,  I remember my dad driving us over to see our first game in the Metrodome back in '83 and thinking it was soo cool to not have to worry if the game was going to be rained out or not. (The Frank Viola autographed bat giveaway was also cool too.)

Now, of course, the Twins play outside at Target Field-- which I think might be the best venue in baseball.  But the Brewers, meanwhile, moved into Miller Park back in 2001-- and now, courtesy of the retractable roof, can play indoors when the spring weather in Wisconsin isn't so spring-like. So things have kind of come full circle from when I was a kid. But now matter which stadium you're at, there's something magical about walking through the concourse and getting your first view of the field-- the brilliant emerald green grass in the outfield, the bright white bases and foul lines, and the perfectly manicured infield and pitcher's mound.

Opening Day has always brought me a smile-- if for no other reason than because it signals winter really IS over, and summer can't be far behind.  And, for small market teams like Minneapolis and Milwaukee, the beginning of the season is also that point in the schedule where both the Twins and Brewers are still in the race. (While the Twins have won the World Series twice, the Brewers lone appearance in the Fall Classic was a 7-game loss to St. Louis, back in 1982. In fact, the standing joke in Wisconsin is that the Brewers are only designed to give you something to do until Packers training camp opens in late July-- when the Brewers have usually fallen the bottom of the standings.)

So buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks-- and enjoy another Opening Day!