O What a Day!

I don't even know where to begin. Now that it's been 24 hours and I've been able to catch my breath after that beat-down of the Yanks, I figured I would come up with a short list of observations and happenings from the best Opening Day at the 'Yard since, well, it opened. 

1) The crowd was fantastic. Yankee fans, while there were a few of them, were non-existent. They didn't have a point of view, and hit the road early after recognizing when they have been beaten.

2) The wet weather early on didn't effect the city at all. From the time Pickle's opened up, until the post game celebration was going on, there were people everywhere. Not to mention it was the largest crowd in OD history at the 'Yard. 

3) CC Sabathia is ridiculously huge. When I think of him being 33 years old, weighing 400 lbs, and the Yanks still owing him more than $80 million, I smile. 

4) Couldn't agree more with Mac about the boos getting to Texiera. Him jumping up and down like a high school girl with a Zac Efron poster was funny to see. 

5) Speaking of the boos...WOW! I heard it was loud on tv, well you should have been there. Absolutely deafening. I was so proud of the O's fans yesterday. 

6) Female O's fans at the yard yesterday - very solid. We haven't even gotten to halter-top weather yet and I was thoroughly impressed. 

7) A little bit of an exchange I had with a Yankee's fan at Pickle's pre-game: 

Camden: "$200 million is an awful lot to finish in third place."

Yankee Fan: "Whatever man, without our money, you guys would have never been able to sign Adam Jones."

OOOOOOOOOOOOkkkkkkkkkkk then!!!!!!!!! 

8) When Cesar stroked that homer (in our section), the place erupted. There was beer flying, hugs with friends, hugs with random strangers. Just an awesome, awesome moment.

9) Nice new feature on the big scoreboard. When George Sherrill was summoned to the mound, the scoreboard erupted with a "Brim Reaper" tribute. Good stuff. 

10) The post-game celebration was unbelievable. On our way to Pickle's, I actually stopped in the middle of the street and rubbed the belly of the traffic director. He was about 6-5, 300 lbs. (It had been a long day to this point).

11) The "First-Place Jig" was in effect in the streets in front of the bar. A certain colleague and myself were dancing obnoxiously for a good 20 minutes, and the moment was so awesome, not only did people not mind, I think they were entertained. 

All in all, it was a tremendous day in Baltimore. A better begining to the 2009 baseball season could not have been scripted. This team is going to have a few ups and a few downs to say the least, but they are going to be an exciting team to watch. We finally have young talent that is going to serve as our foundation and let me tell you, these kids are GOOD. There will be a different story every night, but as for now, Opening Day 2009 is one that will never be forgotten by the Bird's faithful.