Opening Day

Opening Day didn’t happen. Not in Washington DC. Not for the Nats. I should be freezing my bum off right now, while Mad Max is getting ready to throw out the first pitch. We would have just seen them raise the 2019 World Series Banner, and then settled in for live baseball. The last live Game I saw? Seventeen months ago – it was Game 3 of the World Series.

And now? Three Nats have tested positive for Covid, and the same may be true for a fourth. Opening Day, today, was cancelled. “Out of an abundance of caution”, we also already know that the game will not be played tomorrow, on a day that is traditionally kept open for Opening Day weather mishaps.

Will it be Saturday? Sunday? We don’t know. And, since tickets for those games are already sold to others, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to go. With only 5,000 tickets per game right now, things are tight.

Postponing the game was the right thing to do. Covid is still with us and we all need to practice caution. It’s important to keep a long view.

I am interested in finding out who on the Nats first tested positive for Covid this go round. Was it just something unlucky happening to him, or did he do something risky or stupid?

Baseball has opened elsewhere. They are playing across the country. Hell, the Cubs have already lost their opening game to the Pirates 5-3. Miguel Cabrera has already hit a Home Run and it was in a snowstorm in Detroit! Baseball in front of live fans is back.

The Nats season will happen, as will games with fans in the stands. I’ll be at the Park soon, one way or another and that’s good. I also know that in the big scheme of things, this is small potatoes. Having said that, for tonight, I admit I’m a bit disappointed.