Opening Day 2018 Goes to Hell. Or Not. Just Don't Ask The Pope.

For the 2018 Major League Baseball season, Commissioner Rob Manfred made the long-overdue decision to end the recent policy of having two teams - usually excluding the Cincinnati Reds, the team that traditionally played the first game of the season - start the championship season on a Sunday night telecast of ESPN.  For 2018, all teams would begin play on the same day!

Yay! 

And then the rains came.

The day before Opening Day, my close personal friend Robert (he lets me call him "Bob") Castellini postponed Opening Day by 24 hours from Thursday afternoon March 29th to Good Friday March 30th.  There was some speculation on local talk radio as to whether Good Friday would then be adjusted to Saturday and if Easter Sunday would be observed on Monday.  It was not.  Talk radio echoed with callers exulting the decision, almost unanimously asserting that Friday afternoon would be a better day for Cincinnati to throw its annual Opening Day celebration of the American Pastime.

Except for Lou, who had a ticket for Thursday's Opening Day game and would be one-third of the way to Arizona on a family Spring Break road trip on Friday afternoon.

Thanks Obama! Bob!

Fortunately, I was joined in my field-level seats on Opening Day by Mr & Mrs Incomparable Joe Wilhelm [not photographed].   While Joe & Mary were outside the ballpark chilling at the Reds' pregame "Block Party," I was hanging out with my close personal friend and Reds broadcaster emeritus George Grande:

The weather forecast for the postponed Opening Day called for a mix of clouds and sun (it turned out to be mostly cloudy) and a high temperature in the upper 40s.  I layered up, busted out the shades and arrived 2 hours before the first pitch.

My seat was 7 rows from the field, down the left field line, and was bombarded with baseballs during the visiting Washington Nationals' batting practice.  Shortly before game time the two starting pitchers got loose in the outfield:

Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (at left, above) of the Expos Nationals and the Reds Homer Bailey (at right, above), the author of two no-hitters, were that day's starting pitchers.  

20 minutes before the first pitch, the stands were approximately 50% empty or, if you prefer, approximately 50% full.

Soon after we all stood for the National Anthem.....

.....and cheered mightily when two F-16s roared just overhead for the pregame flyover!

Eventually, sometime around the 5th inning, the sun made a brief appearance:

Through the 6th inning, Mad Max and Homie battled to a 1-0 score, advantage Expos Nationals.  The game was riveting as was watching the climbing "Split the Pot" tally:

I was not a winner that day.  And neither were the Reds.  My untested but presumed lucky baseball sox (a Christmas gift) proved to be unlucky.

On the drive home after the game, having been ditched in the 8th inning by the Incomparables, I stopped at Frisch's for some Good Friday/Lenten-approved fish and chips.

Although no less an authority than the Pope himself made news on Opening Day calling into some question the point of sacrifice and saintly living for Catholics:

One guy in particular was bent vociferously out of shape by this startling news from the Bishop of Rome: 

Hell or no hell, I was having my favorite dessert found at any restaurant:

MMMmmm!  Frisch's hot fudge cake.  It's fiendishly delicious.

While siting there in my booth, with nobody to talk to... because I'd been ditched by Joe & Mary, I dove deep into the Opening Day box score and found the crucial statistics which determined the eventual outcome of the game and which also reveal the differences between a great pitcher like Mad Max and a merely good pitcher like Homie.

Both Mad Max and Homie pitched 6 innings before getting the hook.  Mad Max gave up 5 hits, Homie 4 hits.  Scherzer walked 1, Bailey 3.  Mad Max threw 100 pitches, Homie hurled 104 pitches.  Mad Max threw 67 strikes, Homie matched him with 67 strikes.

So far, very comparable.  And, in fact, the score stood at 1-0 when both pitchers departed the game.

Note, however, that Scherzer recorded 10 strike outs, Bailey struck out just 3 batters.  

Of Homie's 67 strikes thrown, 1 out of every 22 [22.3 to be precise] was strike three whereas for Mad Max 1 out of every 7 [in fact, 6.7] of his 67 strikes thrown were strike three.  Where Scherzer is putting away batters with strike three at a much greater rate, Bailey is getting to strike two but is unable himself to put away batters.  For Homie, that means - generally - more batters facing him are walking or putting the ball in play, getting on base via an error or fielders' choice, perhaps advancing a runner on a sacrifice or driving in runs with hits or home runs.

One pitcher is a multiple Cy Young Award winner, the other will never win a Cy Young Award. 

I found peaceful solace in the Reds Opening Day loss when being serenaded under a full moon by Dire Straits on my drive back to The Ranch:

Roll the credits!