DETROIT - Legendary Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell has seen his share of opening days - more than half a century’s worth in Detroit, actually.
So he knows just how special the festivities are to loyal Tiger fans everywhere.
“Michigan and Detroit make such a big deal out of Opening Day while in other cities, a lot of times it’s just a routine game,” he said Tuesday before heading up to his broken-in radio booth to call the Detroit Tigers home opener against the Minnesota Twins.
Opening Day is Detroit’s unofficial holiday, perhaps the one day out of the year when baseball is the talk of the town and where the ballpark is the place to be.
Unfortunately, for the past seven seasons, it’s been one of few highlights for the organization. The Tigers have had seven-straight losing seasons.
But that means very little on Opening Day, said Harwell, who insisted that with Day One comes a refreshing sense of optimism.
“They’re all thrilling because you’re starting anew,” Harwell said. “For me, it’s like Christmas and Easter and the Fourth of July.”
For Tiger fans everywhere, the season-opener is a time to forget about the last-place finish, that seemingly every pundit has predicted out of the Tigers. It’s a chance to shove aside the realization that the team hasn’t seen postseason play since 1987 - when popular Tigers Kirk Gibson, Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell took the field.
On this day, all that matters for fans of this city and state is that the boys of summer are back in action - even if the players names and faces aren’t as recognizable as glory years past.
“For me, it’s all about optimism, hope, and what America and its ideals stand for,” 16-year-old Franklin, Mich., resident Hy Safran said.
Or perhaps it’s a day to cut of work - or school, in Safran’s case.
He had to ditch class early Tuesday to make sure he arrived in time for the early afternoon start. But he had his excuse planned out: “I came down with a case of Tiger fever,” he insists.
Bloomfield Hills resident Brian Lipsitz, 17, said there’s no place he would rather have been Tuesday.
He called Opening Day “the best day of the year,” adding that he wants to “see all the baseball I can.”
The season-opener, in Detroit especially, normally comes equipped with un-baseball-like conditions which makes the sight of fans bundling up to keep warm as common as groundball outs. Tuesday wasn’t any different, with temperatures hovering in the mid-40s as the sun made lengthy appearances.
But even the chill of an early Michigan spring couldn’t keep fans away from the ballpark.
“I’ve been going to Opening Day since I was a little guy and it’s always been cold and crappy and you just learn to deal with it,” said 16-year-old Franklin resident Justin Scletzer. “It’s part of the tradition.”
Of course, even Tuesday’s chilly temperatures were a blessing compared to the weather during last year’s home-opener. Snow was even falling a year ago.
Tuesday’s opener also attracted national media such as ESPN, which is visiting ballparks around the nation this week that are hosting home-openers. ESPN anchor Kenny Mayne, who is the reporter for ESPN’s tour, was in New York Monday for the Yankees-Kansas City Royals game.
He said Opening Day in Detroit was an ideal place for the tour to visit.
“It’s a very cool place,” said Mayne, who was attending, and impressed with, his first Detroit Opening Day. “The crowds were arriving at this place far earlier than they did at Yankee Stadium which surprised me.”
In an unfortunate way, Opening Day is also unique because it’s one of the few times in the season when Comerica Park is sold-out and buzzing with fans. A successful start to the season could change that, but the Tigers fell 3-2 to Minnesota.
Canton resident and MSU alumnus Mark Stapleton, 41, is a season ticket-holder who attended the home-opener with his 11-year-old son Steven. Stapleton said he also plans to attend Thursday’s game against the Twins, but knows it will be a far cry from the tradition-rich Opening Day atmosphere.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he said. “We’ve got tickets on Thursday so we’ll see how many people show up for that game as well.”
Opening Day 2001 didn’t go as well as the home team hoped it would, as third baseman Shane Halter lined into a double-play to end the game and a scoring threat.
But wins and losses aside, Michigan’s most recognizable sports voice assures that Opening Day is still a sign that the national pastime is alive and well in Detroit, and throughout the state.
“People can share the history and love of baseball,” Harwell says, “which no other sport can give them.”
