About The Off-Day: Anticipation

About The Off-Day: Anticipation

By Tim Kabel

April 3, 2026

***

The Yankees play their home opener today at Yankee Stadium at 1:35 against the Marlins.

There is something special about Opening Day. The Yankees always seemed to do Opening Day better than every other team. I don't know if that's still the case, but I'd like to think it is. Regardless, it is a very exciting day full of anticipation and hope.

One of the reasons that Opening Day at  Yankee Stadium always seemed to be a little more special was that very often, it was to celebrate winning the World Series the in the previous season. That hasn't happened since Opening Day of 2010. That was 16 years ago. Children who were born at that time are ready to get their driver's licenses now. My younger son had not started school. He is now finishing his junior year of college. The Yankees have only played in one World Series since then. It was in 2024 and they lost it in five games to the Dodgers. Although the Yankees have 27 World Series victories, more than any other team, it has been a long time since that last one. David Robertson retired in January, becoming the last member of that team to retire.

Yet, Opening Day still fills us with excitement. We still have hope. We still anticipate that this could be the year the Yankees win their 28th World Series. Today is not the day to debate the likelihood of that. Today is the day to embrace the hope and the anticipation. Even though the Yankees will not be raising a World Series flag over the stadium, today will still be a big day. I don't have the itinerary in front of me but I'm sure they will have luminaries from the past there. I'm sure someone amazing will throw out the first pitch. It's what the Yankees do. The other thing that they used to do was win the World Series but as noted above, they've taken a break from that.

I have been to many Opening Days at Yankee Stadium. I used to have a partial season ticket plan. That included Opening Day. It was usually cold and windy. Sometimes the days were cloudy. Even worse, it rained a few times. Yet it was still a wonderful experience. I remember seeing Roger Clemens pitch once on Opening Day. Of course, he was pitching for the Red Sox then. I have not been to a game in person since August of 2018, when I went to two games. Neither of them was at Yankee Stadium ironically. One was at Fenway Park and the other one was in Baltimore. Due to health reasons, I have not been able to attend one since and I'm not sure if I will in the future. I still enjoy watching them on television. I will be watching today's game, as I do not believe it will be on some streaming network that only six people in America have. The sad thing is that for four of those six people, the service will be out on those days. The inaccessibility of games for the true fans is another topic for another day.

The Yankees had a tremendous road trip, going 5-1. They will now open against the Marlins, who are also 5-1. Opening Day is special. The grass will never be fresher than it is on Opening Day. The stadium will never be cleaner than it is on Opening Day. The sights and smells of Yankee Stadium, particularly on an afternoon game at the beginning of Spring cannot be beaten. Apparently, some genius has crafted ice cream that resembles fried chicken that will be served at the stadium this year. If anything could inspire me to recover more quickly so I could attend a game, that would be it.

Obviously, I have no idea if the Yankees will win today. I would certainly like them to. Will Warren is a solid pitcher who had an excellent Spring Training. Even if they don't win, it should be an exciting game. I don't remember attending an Opening Day that was not exciting. Opening Day brings its own excitement. It marks the end of cold weather and winter and doldrums. It makes us think of summer, being outside, and possibly a World Series victory by the Yankees. On Opening Day, everything and anything is possible. We always try to focus on the positive end of the anything and everything spectrum because unless you're Eeyore, why wouldn't you?

So, today will be a great day for Yankees fans. It will be an even better day if they win.

Enjoy Opening Day!