Not to Be for Now

This is how it was supposed to look: Mets and Nats at Citi Field. The special logo on the field, stands full of fans, the sky over Flushing a perfect deep blue. But something bigger than baseball put those plans on hold. Of course, we'll miss it; especially being homebound, it would have been great to pop on the TV this afternoon and see a game -- even if was to be played without a crowd or even in a Grapefruit or Cactus League park away from the worst of the danger.

As the keenly observant -- and from what I understood, later in life baseball fan -- John Lennon famously told us, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Instead, we embrace our memories alongside the dreams of better days ahead.

Looking back over my years as a fan, I've attended three season openers:

• 1969: Mets hosting the Expos at Shea Stadium, that wild 11 - 10 Montreal victory, whose photos I've enjoyed sharing with you on this platform. Believing they had their best chance ever to win on opening day, the Mets instead saw their ace Tom Seaver hit hard, and a scrappy expansion team outplay them on a day that turned increasingly wintry as the innings and hours rolled on. As we know, the Mets went onto shock the baseball world that October.

• 1999: Marlins hosting the Mets at Pro Player Stadium. A packed house for this 4pm start, despite the Marlins having been in Fire Sale mode the previous year -- and just a year and a half removed from their first World Series title. The oddest moment was when Mike Piazza was introduced as part of the New York lineup and broadcaster Joe Angel, hosting on the field, cringeworthingly asked the crowd to cheer him as an ex-Marlin -- having played all of five games for the club between the deals that eventually sent him onto New York. Marlins won that one, 6 - 2. I was back the next night, but the vast majority of the locals weren't. For the first time I recall at a big
  
  league park, the upper deck was closed. Chained off with theater ropes -- no matter what kind of you ticket you bought, you sat downstairs. No playoffs for the '99 Marlins, while those Mets won the NL Wild Card and made it back to the post-season for the first time in 11 years. 

• 2008: My friend Rick Shafarman reminded me, after this was uploaded, that we were at the Dodgers 50th anniversary season opener against the Giants. Perfect Southern California weather and the WORST parking lot fiasco I have ever encountered. I left the freeway at 12:15, thinking I'd have plenty of time before the pre-game ceremony and first pitch. An hour later, after encountering then owner Frank McCourt's idiotic partitioning of the huge Dodger Stadium lot -- and missing the ceremony which included Dodger legends Carl Erskine, Sandy Koufax and Don Newcombe tossing out ceremonial first pitches, I got to my seat, almost a beaten man.

I was also at the 1996 Yankee home opener -- a week after they'd opened on the road in Cleveland. Perfect weather for an NFL playoff game: cold, windy, snow occasionally mixing with rain. A game that should have been postponed -- but wasn't. My first chance to see Derek Jeter in person. He had a hit; so did the other Yankee newcomers, Joe Girardi and Mariano Duncan. Another memory: George Steinbrenner, clearly having guilt over forcing the fans to sit in miserable conditions, had PA Bob Sheppard announce late in the game that anyone who kept their ticket stub could exchange it for a freebie to a game later in the season. Along with the 7 - 3 victory, he gave us hearty fans a reason to smile on our way out of the park. Good karma, indeed! The Yanks went onto win their first World Series in 18 years.

What are your opening day memories? Ever attended one? What made it stand out? And does this day, in normal times, feel as much as holiday as the 4th of July, Thanksgiving or Christmas? Hit the comment button below, and pitch in.