The Home Opener Hangover

Image courtesy of Daylife via Getty Images

So, how were you guys feeling this morning? While some may have coping with the side affects of one too many brewskies, I’m sure everyone was drunk on Blue Jays excitement last night.

Not that I have much of a frame of reference when it comes to Home Openers, but I’d say this year’s edition reminded me most of the 2008 Opening Night when the Blue Jays pounded the Detroit Tigers 12-5.

Even on my trek down Yonge Street towards the Rogers Centre, the atmosphere in the city was palpable. Just watching the droves of people in Blue Jays gear walking down the street was incredible to see.

Of course, no Home Opener never goes off completely without a hitch; there are always a few hiccups along the way, but none that really tarnished the game so that all people remember were the drunken idiots.

I’m sure you heard about the people throwing their rally towels into the field, and that was to be expected. In the future, the situation could be easily remedied by only giving towels to fans in the 100 level.

I realize it looks great on television when you have thousands of fans swinging their towels around, but it looks even worse when they’re falling onto the field and play is delayed while the grounds crew has to pick up the remnants.

There was also a very strange giveaway on the street as we walked up Front Street. There were Corona reps who were giving out bags of limes. It’s one of the least practical things I’ve ever seen, and of course many a citrus made their way into the Rogers Centre.

Numerous times I spotted first base umpire Angel Hernandez picking up limes off the field in between innings. Seriously, who other than Mrs. Doubtfire throws limes at people? Luckily, nobody got hurt by a 50 MPH limeball from the 200 or 500 level.

All those incidents aside, I’d say it was another fantastic Home Opener for the Blue Jays. The fans were relatively well behaved, and things outside the gates seemed to run very smoothly.

My favourite part of the game was Jose Bautista’s home run in the 5th inning. The first time he came to bat in the first inning, I could not believe the buzz within the stadium as he came up to the plate. It was like a giant wave of excitement built up as Usher’s “OMG” came over the loudspeaker.

As crazy as the atmosphere was, it was great to meet lots of fellow Blue Jays fans and I even managed to get a picture with Chris and the Bautista Bomb gang. Nice shirts, gents! (Which you can purchase here, by the way).

In the grand scheme of things, the Home Opener is only game game and the season cannot be predicated on April 1st. However, if the next 160 games are going to be anything like what the Home Opener was, then we’ll be in for quite the ride.