It’s a short week. At least for me.
I will be taking this Thursday (and Friday) off work. It is a highly important day, and there is just no way I would be able to deal with being at the office.
No, I don’t have a doctor’s appointment. No, I don’t have any errands to run. No, I don’t have an interview. No, I don’t have any family functions. No, I don’t have a trip to take or a flight to catch. No……none of the above. Why else would I need a random Thursday off in the last week of March?
IT’S OPENING DAY!!!!!!!!!!
Major League Baseball will see the first pitches of the 2018 season thrown on Thursday afternoon. My beloved Chicago Cubs play at Noon EST, in Miami against an obviously tanking Marlins team (that we should have no problem beating). I can’t not watch the first game of the year!!!
People chuckle when I tell them that was the reason I took a vacation day. This is not the first (or last) time I’ve done this, though. It has all the relevance of a holiday to me, so I always feel I need to celebrate properly.
I’m, of course, not actually attending the game. The Cubs always start the year playing on the road so that would take some kind of extensive travel planning effort (I will be heading up to Wrigley the second weekend of April). I like to always make it a point to be somewhere watching the game, though. I round up some of the boys and we go find one of our favorite watering holes with multiple TVs to take in all the action. My closest group of friends also includes fans of the Reds and Braves, as well as other Cubs fans, so naturally we have to try to appease all parties. Luckily for me, the Cubs play earlier in the day than everybody else’s team. I’ll have the viewing stage unhindered during that time!
Opening Day is one of the most exciting days of the year, in my humble opinion. Winter is always long, cold, and dreary. It’s a total drag. Everybody hibernates and never wants to leave their house. It’s hard to find anything fun to do. In the sports landscape, football has long been over. Basketball has been the only thing going on (unless you’re a hockey fan, which I’m not). I enjoy basketball well enough, but I’m not nearly the fan I was in my youth when I used to actually play. Hoops is now essentially just a time killer until the boys of summer get things going again.
Baseball is one of my favorite things in life. The Cubs are one of my favorite things in life. When Opening Day arrives, it signifies to me that we made it. We clawed through the dark, mucky trenches of another cold winter and have finally arrived back at the greener pastures of warmer and more joyful days. If that’s not worth celebrating, I don’t know what it is! Spring Training starts in February, which gives more of a “light at the end of the tunnel” feeling. Opening Day is the real deal, though! We are 3 days away!
I have had this feeling about the first day of the baseball season ever since I was a kid. Didn’t matter how good the Cubs were ever projected to be. I was always pumped. It has been extra special the last few years as we have had three straight playoff appearances, a World Series win in 2016, and another division title last season. The Cubs are again the heavy favorites to claim the NL Central crown this year and get another crack at a Championship Trophy. The hopes are high for another unforgettable campaign.
No matter your favorite team. If you’re a baseball fan, I’m sure you feel the same way I do! Maybe you even take the day off, too. If not, you should probably remedy that.
Warm days. Green grass. Peanuts. Cracker Jacks. A dog and a beer in the bright summer sun. The ballparks are springing back to life for 2018.
So tell your boss you’ve got something important to do Thursday afternoon, and come down and have a brew with me. Opening Day is the exact kind of bright and unifying day we can all celebrate together! We need as many of those days as we can get.
Happy Baseball Season!!
The Nominal Man 
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