Opening day is almost always fun, the official start to the season after several months of no baseball. This year the Dodgers start the year in a place they’ve never been before, coming off consecutive championships.
No World Series are won on opening day, but it’s still a time of great memories, from the pomp and circumstance of pregame ceremonies, entire teams lining up down the foul lines, and the excitement that comes with a new season, a long journey with the odometer at zero.
Off the top of my head, opening day moments I remember include Steve Sax hitting the first pitch seen by a Dodgers batter in 1988 for a home run. Twelve-year-old me took that as a harbinger of good things even if it was the only run scored by Los Angeles that day in a loss to the San Francisco Giants.
Clayton Kershaw pitched a shutout to beat the Giants on opening day in 2013, and the game was scoreless until Kershaw hit his only career home run in the eighth inning. Some may remember that as a 1-0 Dodgers win — the legend is better that way — but they did rally for three more runs in the inning to add some more breathing room.
I was too young to have experienced Fernandomania as it happened, but Fernando Valenzuela’s first of eight consecutive nine-inning wins in 1981 — the first eight starts of his career — began with an opening-day shutout of the Houston Astros.
There are plenty of wonderful memories from Game 1 of the season. Today’s question is what is your favorite opening day moment?
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