Friends, we’ve made it! It’s baseball season. The cold and boring winter is officially over, though of course depending on where you are located on or orbiting above the planet you might be experiencing differing weather conditions that don’t scream summer or even spring.
The Orioles could win the World Series this year. They probably won’t, but they could! It’s fun to be able to say that and that’s not something I will take for granted after we lived through the 2018-2021 O’s.
It would be nice to see the Orioles come out and really announce their presence for 2025 after an offseason of angst at the lack of big moves. Give us a sign that the formula is going to work. Good enough starting pitching, an offense that can pile on the runs, and a bullpen that doesn’t give us much reason to think about it.
That could happen today even with Gunnar Henderson on the injured list. Blue Jays nemesis Ryan Mountcastle could go nuts. Tyler O’Neill could ride a wave of patriotic fervor in his native Canada to hitting a home run for a sixth straight Opening Day. Adley Rutschman could quiet all of the doubters who’ve assembled since his second half struggle a year ago. Jackson Holliday could start to show he’s still headed for stardom.
A lot could go right with this team. A lot could go wrong too, but what’s the fun in thinking about that on Opening Day? No sense worrying about all of that unless they play so badly that they absolutely make us think about it.
Orioles lineup
- Colton Cowser – LF
- Adley Rutschman – C
- Jordan Westburg – 2B
- Ryan O’Hearn – DH
- Tyler O’Neill – RF
- Ryan Mountcastle – 1B
- Cedric Mullins – CF
- Ramón Urías – 3B
- Jackson Holliday – SS
Zach Eflin is getting the Opening Day start for the Orioles. I hope he can continue to make a nice impression, as he did in his first nine starts that he made after being acquired last July.
Blue Jays lineup
- Bo Bichette – SS
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – 1B
- Anthony Santander – LF
- Andrés Giménez – 2B
- Alejandro Kirk – C
- George Springer – CF
- Will Wagner – DH
- Ernie Clement – 3B
- Alan Roden – RF
I am a reasonably informed baseball observer and I have not in my life seen the names Will Wagner or Alan Roden before right now when I looked up this lineup. They’re going to homer today.
Jose Berríos is the Blue Jays #1 starter. He’s been solid for the last two seasons after stinking up the joint in his first full season in Toronto in 2022.
A note: We ask everyone to keep discussions of politics away from this website. Most of the time there’s no trouble keeping “today’s baseball game” and “recent events in politics” separate, but today’s Orioles game is being played in an environment where beat writers are already posting things like this:
The source of this expected sentiment being vented against symbols of the United States of America is the recent aggressive actions and words by Donald Trump that directly threaten the sovereignty of Canada as an independent country. If you think it is reprehensible to have a leader who is engaging in such behavior against our friendly northern neighbors: Yeah, me too. It sucks. Please don’t comment about it here. If you take the opposite view, don’t comment about it. Thank you.
