Opening Duds

This morning I checked into work, eagerly expecting Red Sox opening day.

My Red Sox Christmas tree lights draped my cubicle. I had my sharp blue Red Sox tie contrasting my bright red shirt. I was thinking of reasons why I needed to see my boss (he's a Red Sox fan with the only TV in the office).

But spirits, already a bit low because of the Phillies lackluster loss the night before, were dampened when I saw the Red Sox were rained out. Not a big deal, I guess, except for the fact I'll be in less of a position to monitor the score tomorrow.

Funny, reading Boston's weather prediction this morning reminded me of the type of weather predicted for a certain World Series game we recently attended:

"We're looking at heavy rain headed our way as we head toward the evening hours," (meteorologist Sarah) Wroblewski said during her Sunday morning weather report. "We are expecting to see lots of rain. So Opening Day forecast? It doesn't look too great. Unfortunately, rain will be nearby by the midday hours. It may be light to start but it's going to come down. And once it does in the afternoon, it will be raining pretty hard and it will also be very windy."

At least Bud Selig didn't make the fans sit through that.

So two days into the schedule, the Red Sox are 0-0 and the Phillies are 0-1, trailing three teams in the NL East. In Philadelphia, fans couldn't last one inning, let alone the five-year grace period after a championship, before letting out the boos:

"My goodness," Jimmy Rollins said last night. "I am so heartbroken that we lost a game."

Christine and I wondered how she would handle her champions' first game - would she grumble as usual or watch with a new calmness that a title brings? She was grumbling as soon as Brian McCann crushed the first home run off Brett Myers. In the post-game, Mitch Williams said the Phillies are proud of their 2008 accomplishment and are enjoying the pomp of Opening Day and Wednesday's ring ceremony, but are probably looking forward to settling in and just playing ball.

Similarly, Christine is looking forward to watching the ceremonies, but probably more eager for what the next 161 games bring as her Phillies knock the Mets out of first place for the third year in a row.

[Photo credit: Boston Globe]