The beginning of April means millions of fans tune in for MLB Opening Day 2015, but what did we learn from the first day of meaningful baseball?
Some teams came out of the gate firing like the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics. Both teams crushed their opponents, Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers, with an eight-run shutout performance.
While some teams launched bombs over the outfield walls, others relied on their Aces paired with their bullpens to carry them to opening-day victory. Six teams successfully threw Opening Day shutouts this year.
Both Felix Hernandez and Johnny Cueto struck out 10 batters as their teams won their first game of the season.
Although the above mentions put in solid performances they were not the whole story. Lets take a look at the good, the bad and the funny from Opening Day.
Trout vs. King Felix Part Two
Reigning MVP Mike Trout began the season just the way people expected, but the rest of his team did not follow suit as they fell 4-1 to the Seattle Mariners.
The 23-year-old star hit a home run to center field off Felix Hernandez in his first at-bat of the season Monday.
If this sounds familiar, that is because it is. Trout tagged King Felix for a home run last year in the outfielder’s first at-bat to jump-start his MVP season.
On top of the quick start at the plate, Trout also provided one of his vintage defensive plays by robbing Mariner’s first baseman Logan Morrison of a homer.
However, Hernandez had the last laugh on the day as Trout finished 1-4 from the plate with three strikeouts. The Mariners did not surrender another run on the day and Hernandez only gave up one more hit in his seven innings.
Return of Baseball’s Villain
After missing the entire 2014 season due to suspension, Alex Rodriguez returned to the New York Yankees as the biggest villain in baseball.
Villain? Apparently nobody told Yankees fans about the player’s past transgressions. Rodriguez enjoyed a strong ovation as he stepped up to the plate for his first at-bat of the season.
Rodriguez’s on-field performance was nothing to laud as he earned a single and a walk in his three plate appearances.
As the current face of steroids in baseball, his performances will be scrutinized all season, and he will be polarizing wherever the Yankees play.
Some Yankees fans held up signs spelling out “#Forg1v3” during his first at-bat since 2013, but opposing fans may not be so welcoming.
Sometimes You Just Can’t Hold It
The start of the Major League Baseball season officially kicked off with the game between St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs on Sunday night, but the Cubs defeat was not the only bad part about the night for Chicago fans.
The Cardinals won 3-0 over the Cubs behind a routinely strong pitching performance by Adam Wainwright, but the renovations to Wrigley Field took the main stage. The new construction is not complete, leaving the bathroom situation at the stadium pretty dire.
The lines for the restrooms left fans waiting 30 minutes or more, and this wait appeared to lower the standard for what qualifies as a toilet.
Some fans opted to relieve themselves at their own convenience through the use of plastic cups. Then these cups were left in corners of the concourse.
There will be plenty of 3-0 games this season, but the Cubs will hope the organization and sanitation failure of Opening Day does not repeat themselves. In order to prevent this, there will be portable toilets installed at the stadium to help make up for the lost amenities until the renovations are finished in late May, according to a report by the Chicago Tribune.
The 2015 Opening Day churned out major headlines all day, bypassing both the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals. Not often does conversation of the previous World Series champs title defense fall by the wayside.
If the rest of the regular season serves to be just as entertaining as the Opening Day, it should be an entertaining season.
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