A record-setting crowd saw the home debut of the 2004 West Michigan Whitecaps Friday night. For me, it was like being in a dream- time seemed to have been frozen last August, all the familiar faces and sounds and smells washed away a long cold dark winter.
Opening day at the minor league level is like the first day of school- learning all the new kids names, wandering around the building and seeing what has been changed, what has stayed the same, getting reacquainted with old friends. Exciting. And the weather was summer-like, game-time temps in the 70's. Beautiful night.
Vince Blue hit the very first pitch out of the park, and the Caps went on to score 9 runs on 13 hits.
"That jukebox in the corner blasting out my favorite song
the nights are getting warmer, it won't be long,
won't be long till summer comes,
now that the boys are here again....
The boys are back in town, the boys are back in town....."
Winning pitcher Virgil Vasquez picks up a strikeout.
Kelly Hunt rounds the bases after a three-run homer.
Quote of the Day:"It was everything I heard it was going to be," said first baseman Kelly Hunt, who led the scoring eruption for the Whitecaps with a pair of hits and five RBIs, including a three-run homer in the third inning. "It's a lot easier to play when you've got the fans on your side. There were a lot of people screaming and yelling for us. It was awesome."
The only sad thing was that I quite possibly missed the most exciting Cub game of the young year- Cubs won in the bottom of the ninth 11-10 as Sammy Sosa tied Ernie Banks record for Cub home runs. Ah well.