No. 19: Cincinnati Reds
Housekeeping notes:
I mistakenly put the wrong link yesterday to the 20% off coupon for JoeBlogs. Here is the correct link.
Thank you so much to those of you who have been donating annual subscriptions to JoeBlogs. Your kindness is much appreciated and, as I mentioned yesterday, keep an eye on your inbox, as next month I will be sending you a thank-you email with the opportunity for me to send you some pretty cool prizes (I think) from my office cleaning.
I haven’t talked TOO much about WHY WE LOVE FOOTBALL yet because we’re still some 29 weeks away from the pub date*, but I will tell you that, once again, if you preorder the book from anywhere, you can get some pretty cool bonus material on Sept. 17, the day the book publishes. I did this for Why We Love Baseball, and it was a pretty big hit. The football bonus stuff might be even cooler; I have just cut two awesome chapters for reasons that have nothing at all to do with their quality, and you’ll get both of those, along with some other bonus stuff. All you have to do is preorder the book and then, like last time, fill out this super-easy form set up by our magnificent marketing guru, Caroline.
*But you know it’s coming!That bonus content is for preordering the book from anywhere—Bookshop, Amazon, B&N, Books A Million, Hudson, Target, Walmart, your local bookstore, wherever. But our big preorder campaign is happening at Quail Ridge Books, where you can preorder signed copies with any inscription you want. I have been debating whether Denver fans can have me inscribe the book with nice words about John Elway; that seems beyond the pale to me, but, well, we will just have to see if anyone dares. I am also sending out a little letter about the book with the complete introduction to anyone who preorders from Quail Ridge and gmails me the receipt at JP at JoePosnanski.
OK, on “Opening Day,” let’s talk some Reds and Opening Day.
Was Opening Day better when it was just the Reds?
(Subquestion: Am I even remembering this right?)
Nostalgia is a tricky thing, because it’s a difficult emotion to break apart. When I say that I’m nostalgic for old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, what am I really saying? Do I miss the way my shoes stuck to the floor? Do I miss the way steel beams blocked every view? Do I miss the asbestos leaking out from everywhere? Do I miss having an entire section to myself at a baseball game? Do I miss the way a cold wind would pour in from Lake Erie, turning July into November as the sun began to set?
Or do I simply miss being young?
For many years, the first pitch of the baseball season was thrown in Cincinnati. Or, anyway, that’s how I remember it. Well, I’ll get to all that.
But our question is: Was that better, when the Reds kicked off the baseball season? As you might know (or frankly, might not know), the Dodgers and Padres officially opened the baseball season in Seoul this morning. And when I say “this morning” I mean the game started at 3:05 a.m. Pacific time. It is incredibly cool for teams to play baseball games in Seoul, and I could not be more excited about the idea of making Major League Baseball more worldwide, you know, like Pitbull.
But… Opening Day at 3:05 a.m. a week before the rest of the season starts?
I mean, that doesn’t exactly feel right, does it?