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Opening Day is a Percell family tradition, at least for those of us in the mountain time zone.
It all started on April 9, 1993. Finally Major League Baseball was in Colorado. No more road trips across the nothingness of Kansas to see the "nearest-to" home team Kansas City Royals. Baseball was right here in our own backyard. I was in middle school at the time. My family bought 8 tickets so my two brothers and I could each take a friend along with my parents
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That set the precedent. From then on, while not recognized by the federal government, Opening Day would be a holiday in the Percell Family.
April 26th, 1995 is another Opening Day's that will stand out above the rest. Coors Field had just been built and the Rockies had moved out of the massive football stadium that was Mile High. No one will recall the first time the Rockies played in Coors Field, as it came about a month before Opening Day in a two game end of Spring Training exhibition series with the New York Yankees using scab players, as the Players Union was on strike. Just before the season was to start with the replacement players, the union and owners settled their differences. The season was pushed back a month, so the real players could have a shortened Spring Training and Opening Day was set for April 26th that year.
My dad was out of town on business that week, returning to Denver on April 26th. It was snowing that day. Jay (my older brother) and I were both at Centaurus High School preparing to have baseball practice in the school gymnasium, when my mom called the school asking that we be dismissed from practice. My dad had flown into town and headed straight downtown, expecting to be able to find reasonably-priced seats on the street considering the weather. "I love it when a plan comes together."
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Since then, there have been many other birthdays celebrated at Coors Field - my wife's birthday is April 4th, and she married into the tradition. There was one other walk-off home run, Clint Barmes in 2005. Friday, we'll be celebrating JT and my birthdays (a few days belated) at Coors Field.
Happy Opening Day everyone, and don't forget to set your fantasy baseball lineups!
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"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone."
- A. Bartlett Giamatti