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• Tips for getting the most out of the season

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Maryvale Baseball Stadium (Stephanie Murphy, buzz Weekly)

Everyone has a favorite day of the year. I suppose when I was really young, it was Christmas, but I think most kids are that way. This past year, the first day of spring seemed like a pretty nice day. Of course, it freaking snowed and got cold again after that, which definitely sucked some of the joy from that event. Birthdays never really did much for me either, even when I was young enough to care about them. These days, for me, there’s only one day that brings me absolute joy and hope. There is nothing better than the opening day of baseball season.

I suppose for some people, the baseball season has already started, what with that World Baseball Classic being held this year. It’s fine, I suppose, and I watched a little of it, but it’s just not the same. It’s like going out for a gourmet dinner and the waiter saying. “Well, our main course is going to be prime rib, but first we’re going to start you off with some potato chips covered in liquid cheese.” It’ll probably be OK, but it’s nothing compared to what’s around the corner.

So Monday is officially opening day, and I get a little giddier with each day that passes. Some people I know can’t understand this at all. They don’t much care for our nation’s pastime and can’t begin to understand how someone is excited to watch baseball for the next seven months. I guess I sort of understand this, but I still can’t get completely behind the non-believers. Even if you don’t enjoy the game quite as much as other people, there are still ways to make it more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Here are some tips and fun ideas to get you through the summer.

First of all, I’ve never been a huge fan of saying it’s only a game, but it really is. It’s always a little unnerving to see someone in public have a little hissy fit when their team is losing. Fine, I’ll often do it in the privacy of my own house, but I try to keep that sort of thing in check when I’m out in public. If an actual player becomes upset because of a bad play, I can totally understand and actually encourage it. If you’re a fella having a beer in a bar, however, whether you think so or not, you have absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of the game.

That being said, it’s fun to pretend you actually have something to do with the outcome of the game. If I go out to watch the Cardinals’ opening game on a chilly day while wearing a blue sweater and they somehow manage to win every time I wear that same blue sweater, I will still be wearing the damned thing in the middle of July and sweating my ass off all because I think they are winning because of the sweater, not because they are skilled in any way. It’s a long sentence, but it’s painfully true. I’ve yet to really find that line between being a good fan and a complete idiot. Actually, there may not even be a line.

If you’re having trouble deciding what team should be your favorite, don’t fret. Instead, go in the other direction. Find a team you absolutely despise and root against them the entire year. Sure, it ends up making you a pretty negative person, but Cardinal/Cub fans have been rooting against the other team for ages now, and it just seems right.

That being said, one of my pet peeves is for people to root for the other team to make an error or completely fall apart. It’s so Little League to yell, “Drop it! Drrooop iit!” on a routine fly ball. Sure, it will happen every so often but not nearly enough to warrant any sort of a chant. I like to hope the other team does well and my team does just a little bit better.

Hopefully, those little rules of etiquette will at least make others around you enjoy the game a little more. Still, you’ve got to find something to hold your own interest. It helps to come up with some sort of game to play within the game. For example, if you have a significant other or even just someone who’s willing to put up with you for three hours at a stretch, you can still keep the game exciting. You can kiss each other depending on the location of each pitch. The boy can kiss the girl on the strikes, and the girl can kiss the boy on the ... fine, it’s an old joke, but it still makes me laugh.

On opening day, hope springs eternal. Everything starts fresh. The Pirates have the same record as the Red Sox. If you’re a hitter and you have a great season, it basically means you will be doing your job well about a third of the time. That’s what it takes to hit over .300. I don’t know about you but those are the kind of numbers even I can aspire to. It’s a really simple game, yet it can be so strangely complicated. I think that’s why I like it — because the game is just like me. Simple and complicated ... except I’m not really complicated. Sometimes simple is probably good enough.