Extra Special Opening Night
Opening night. It’s a day we all circle on our calendars, take off of work, and find a way to be tuned into the game. Every year the fresh air of spring brings with it the sweet hope of it being our team’s year to bring home a championship. There’s something special about walking up to the stadium gates for the first time each year, the crack of the bat, the pop of the glove, the smell of the popcorn, and the music of the organist. These feelings and senses were heightened this year, as baseball fans were finally able to return to our hometown stadiums. 2020 was a year to forget, but fans haven’t forgotten what makes a night at the ballpark special.
There was so much about the Frontier League in 2020 this I missed. I missed fireworks nights at the New Jersey Jackals, I missed autographs after New York Boulders games, I missed $2 hot dogs, $1 beers, and sitting in the front row for $13. The Frontier League might not have the prestige of being MLB affiliated with the future stars and top draft picks. However, it has a special element that is a throwback to how the game used to be played. It’s a place where players are just looking for another chance to get noticed, maybe to just sniff the show again. It’s a place where the players are there motivated by nothing short of a pure love for the game of baseball. There’s a certain romantic feel to this independent league getting back on the field for the coaches, the players, and the communities they play in front of.
It can all be summed up in an interaction I had with a Trois-Rivières Aigles pitcher in 2018. I was sitting in the front row with a blank baseball, and asked him to sign it. We got to chit chat a little and he jokingly said, “Just don’t heckle too much.” I replied with, “I’m just here because I love to watch baseball.” His response has remained with me since that night and embodies what the Frontier League is all about. He simply said, “I’m here because I just love to play baseball.”
Since getting started in the baseball collecting and TTM (through the mail) community on Instagram I have been able to meet and connect with so many great people, and have made some great friends. It has been a great creative outlet and source of ideas for my greatest passion. Who knew buying a GoPro and getting footage of items being signed would turn into such a popular form of content on my page. That has since developed into purchasing a high quality camera for photography and soon vlogging. Always looking for great people to work with, one day I happened to stumble upon the Frontier League Journal.
A sense of excitement hit me, and I thought “Finally there’s someone else out there who gets it!” How fun that there was a publication devoted to the often overlooked independent league that is now an official partner league of MLB. It was so cool to have a one stop shop to get all the news and happenings of the league. After some initial contact, I extended an offer to Dave to go to games and take photos and video for the publications use. Not asking for any money or anything special, purely a passion project partnership. Still got something more than I ever could have thought would happen. This then led to me being put on the media list for opening night!
I spoke before about the sense of excitement fans feel as they walk up to their home stadium. That night, a new sense of thrill rushed through my mind. The access of photographers and the media was something I always coveted. Being right up and close to the stars of the game and going places off limits to everyone else. One of my favorite parts of the Frontier League was how up close and personal the players were for the fans. There was something special about being told I could pretty much, other than the dugouts, go anywhere I wanted. On this night, standing in a camera well and hearing the excitement from the players in the dugout was a step above that. Their cheers on scoring a run, the groans and swears from losing a close call, and the general fun being had just playing the game.
Also was able to crack some jokes with the players too. A Jackals pitcher walking to the bullpen joking said, “Not trying to pick up our signs and sequences are you? Haha”. I instinctively replied, “Of course not. This is Rockland, not Houston.” We both then burst into laughter, as any fan outside of Houston would.
Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of the whole game was how it was played. Today’s baseball strategy is dictated on spin rates, launch angles, and SABRmetrics mumbo jumbo that makes the game stale and boring. This game features singles and doubles, bunts, sacrifice flies, solid fielding, players putting the ball in play, and all the forgotten elements of making the game worth watching.
It was refreshing to not watch a game in which runs were only scored on home runs. This game features bases clearing doubles, astute baserunning, and a go ahead sacrifice fly in the 8th to score what would be the winning run. Was a better game to watch than most anything my beloved New York Yankees have done this season. We all know MLB isn’t going to change how their game is played, and miss the way it used to be played. The solution to that longing exists, and it’s called independent league baseball!
So much about baseball is special.It has survived throughout the good times and the bad. Economic downturns, wars, and civil strife has always had one unifying outlet that frees everyone from life’s stresses and constraints. That is our National Pastime! May we never take for granted again what it stands for in the past, the present, and most definitely the future.
