Column: Baseball gets its opening day, now a season looms

The fans behind home plate at Dodger Stadium were fake, and so were the cheers in the nation’s capital.

The games themselves seemed real enough, assuming you weren’t looking too closely. And Nationals star Juan Soto’s positive test for coronavirus was all too real.

Baseball got the opening day many thought might never come this year, though it wasn’t exactly time to celebrate. Soto’s last-minute absence Thursday as the defending champions opened play at home was a grim reminder — as if any were needed — that the virus will overshadow anything that happens on the field this season.

Watching from a distance, you might wonder why they were even trying. While the baseball was decent enough it’s hard to imagine anyone missing the game so much that they’ll find this version of it compelling over a 60-game season.

If there was a feel, it was artificial, like the Xbox had been accidentally activated and a video game was on the big screen at home. Even the intense storm that ended play in the sixth inning in Washington seemed like it had been programmed on a Hollywood back lot to ensure a Yankee win.

And, really, how interesting can cardboard people be after a few games even if that was a likeness of Tommy Lasorda behind home plate watching his beloved Dodgers beat the hated Giants.

Still, there was cause for die-hard fans everywhere to celebrate.

Giancarlo Stanton’s first inning home run was thrilling to Yankee fans, who have to be dreaming he might hit the magic mark of 20 this year. Gerrit Cole looked like he was worth every bit of the huge new contract that lured him to the Bronx, and at this rate might lead the league with eight or nine wins.

In Los Angeles, all the cardboard cutout fans had smiles on their faces, and with good reason. It doesn’t...

source https://www.chron.com/news/article/Column-Baseball-gets-its-opening-day-now-a-15430833.php