Update: 3-27-2025 Opening Day!
Overlooking the minor detail that the Dodgers and Cubs played in Tokyo...
Did you miss the ironic lost story of the Judge who saved the Little Rock Travelers, but tragically never saw the results of his work?
Link: Judge Kavanaugh Saves the Travelers
Opening Day 2025
The Dodgers get a two-game head start, and the Cubs find a way to be last in the National League Central Division before Opening Day!
$100 and here we go!
I have shared my story many times. I grew up on West View Mountain just off the “Pig Trail” (Arkansas Highway 23). Like many 60s kids, I loved Mickey Mantle and the Yankees. However, I listened to a baseball game on my transistor radio almost every day, which meant Harry Carey, Jack Buck, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Most of the adults I knew were Cardinals fans.
My friends and I were proudly “free-thinking” baseball fans; therefore, we didn’t feel obligated to follow our grandpa’s Cardinals as our favorite big-league team. It seems like World Series success, Superstation TV, and a 1960s trend to make our own choices led to subgroups of Arkansas youngsters who remain Yankees, Braves, Dodgers, and Cubs fans.
Although I am not proud of it, in about 1980, I abandoned the Yanks and returned to my heritage. The St. Louis Cardinals became “My Team” some 20 years after those summer days listening to Harry and Jack.
Last week, I paid FanDuel $100 to watch the Cardinals this summer. That seems like too much, but it was the best choice. Sometimes I watch two or three innings, and sometimes I watch the entire game.
In 2022, I watched every game of Albert Pujols’ amazing September. It was the opportunity of a lifetime seeing the farewell tour of one of the game’s all-time greats!
For Redbird fans, today is the beginning of a season with low expectations but an inherited loyalty to their beloved St. Louis Cardinals. Regardless of your feelings about the Cards, they are our “grandpa’s team.” Everyone has hope on Opening Day! Best wishes to baseball fans everywhere, and good luck to “your team.”
Thursday, March 27 - 3:15 p.m.: Minnesota Twins at St. Louis Cardinals
Not the best opening day for the Arkansas guys:
Gavin Stone (Lake City) will open (and probably close) the season on the IL, after shoulder surgery. Jordan Wicks (Conway) will open in Iowa, but I am confident that we will see him in Chicago. Like Wicks, Colorado pitching prospect Jaden Hill (Ashdown) was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on Saturday but remains in the Rockies’ plans. Tyler Zuber (White Hall) is also opening the season at the Mets’ AAA affiliate in Syracuse, New York.
It looks like Jalen Beeks (Prairie Grove) is going to get a shot in Arizona. The left-hander has reached an agreement on a major league deal, pending a physical. If the physical goes well, Beeks is set to earn $1.25 million this season. A good deal for Beeks.
Googling Drew Smyly (Little Rock) gets news stories from 2024 but nothing from 2025. He led the Cubs in appearances in 2024, but instead of paying him 10 million to pitch in 2025, the Cubs paid him 2.5 million to go home. Congratulations to an Arkansas native and former Razorback star on his excellent 11-year career. Who can forget the Field of Dreams game in 2022?
Jakob Junis, who was born in Jacksonville, will make the opening day roster in Cleveland and stands to earn about 4.5 million with the Guardians. Grant Koch (Fayetteville) and Jonathan Davis (Camden), who played in the majors in 2024, are not mentioned in any plans for a big-league appearance in 2025. They may not get another chance.
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