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Padres Editorial: It’s Baseball Season!

By Mark "Wisco" Whelan |

This is it. Today is the day we’ve been waiting for since October. Opening Day. Nearly six months since a meaningful baseball game has been played. And today, with one pitch thrown by Clayton Kershaw to Wil Myers at 1:10 or so, it will be baseball season for the San Diego Padres again.

Today, the speculative talk of which city has the better team ends. Only the games on the diamond will be the measuring stick.

Once a player step onto the field, it doesn’t matter if he is making $25 million a year or 2% of that. It doesn’t matter if a player is a Cy Young or MVP winner or a first-year rookie. All records start at 0-0. It will be team against team, pitcher against hitter, man versus man, and we will be watching and rooting for our Padres.

While we Padres fans are more optimistic than we have been in years, it is still the game of baseball that keeps us coming back.

Jumping on the first pitch. Trying to work the walk. Swinging hard on a 2-0 count. Hitting the ball to the right side to advance the runner. Shortening up the swing with two strikes.

Watching the pitcher’s motion. Taking a lead. Breaking for second on the first move home.

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Shifting a step or two to the opposite field once the batter has two strikes. Hitting the cutoff man. Deciding before the play which base to throw to. Knowing the runner’s speed and putting a little extra juice on your throw to first.

Deciding whether to buy your tickets online or go down to the box office to avoid the fees. Enjoying the curves and beautiful trees of Balboa Park as you cruise down the 163.

Handing your ticket to the smiling attendant and being handed whatever they happen to be giving away that day.

Finding your seats and thinking, “Hey, these are pretty good.” Starting a conversation with the older guy sitting behind you and hoping he has some good baseball stories to tell. Cheering and high-fiving with perfect strangers when the Padres score.

Clearing your schedule. Sitting in your favorite recliner. Grabbing your preferred snack and beverage. Catching the pregame show.

Feeling optimistic when you get the call on that first pitch. Clapping your hands when your first runner reaches base. Yelling out loud in your empty apartment when they put a crooked number on the scoreboard.

Enjoying life just a little more the day after a win.

This is what we live for, our raison d’etre.

This is what makes Summer so much better than Winter.

Everything is okay now, it’s baseball season.

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