Today is Opening Day, the day when every team and every player and every fan in Major League Baseball is filled with optimism.
Here in San Diego, the optimism within the Padres organization and among the fans seems to be a little more optimistic. And why not?
The Padres have new and better players and after years of losing records, they have their eyes on making the playoffs. Too optimistic you say? Maybe but on Opening Day, being an optimist is what it’s all about.
And with that NFL team that used to call San Diego home and abandoned us last year, sports fans in San Diego want to be optimistic about the only major league professional team in town.
And all this optimism about the Padres on Opening Day may even be contagious and even non-sports fans may catch it.
Just fans of San Diego, fans of living here and fans of being Americans on a day when what is known as America’s favorite pastime begins on baseball fields all across America, including here in the city we still like to call America’s finest.
Being optimistic is not a bad thing, especially with what seems to be so much bad news in the news these days that can make you feel a little pessimistic at times. And then there are the battles with each other over gun control and the battles with each other over politics.
But on a day like Opening Day, it can be a day, if we choose, when the worst arguments we have are about who’s on first and about how many games are team will win.
In other words, on Opening Day, optimism is worth cheering about.
(Photo credit Getty Images)