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The 6 Best MLB Moments from Opening Day

Opening Day means the return of wacky baseball that actually counts.

Adam Sloate
Best MLB Moments 4/2/2021

On Opening Day, hope springs eternal. Everybody is 0-0 and has a chance — no matter how small — to climb the mountain to the top. For fans of winning teams, cries of “162-0” fill the stadiums and social media comment sections. For fans of losing teams, the loss is just a bump in the road to 161-1. Whatever the results for your team were, I think we can all say that we are truly grateful for a full, 162 game season in 2021. There will be far less fretting about 60-game sample sizes this offseason.

Real baseball, how we’ve truly missed you. Now, let’s focus on some of the wacky things that happened yesterday.

 

Miggy Slides Into Second

Firstly, wow. Nothing says spring quite like snow at first pitch.

Secondly, there is no denying that Miguel Cabrera is still hustling it out. He has no idea where this ball is, thanks to the snow coming down on Comerica Park in the first inning. All he knows is that he hit this ball hard and must have had something close to a double. Luckily for him, it was something a little bit more than a double.

 

Bo Bichette Sings a Song

Reader, I am sure that you and I both have sung songs before. We sing them in the shower, we sing along to the radio in the car, and so on and so far. But being asked to sing songs for people, to be broadcasted on national TV (millions of viewers!) on Opening Day? That sounds a little cruel. Luckily, Bo Bichette handled this one like a champ. He sang the first line of Justin Bieber’s “Peaches” for Ravech.

Who knew Bichette was such a fan of Justin Bieber? I wonder if they have met before, since Bichette plays for the only Canadian MLB team and Bieber is Canadian. By the way, Peaches came out less than two weeks ago. So, it is possible that Bichette was actively listening to Bieber’s music over the last few weeks and felt comfortable singing the line because he had listened to it several times.

The best part of this interaction, though, is when Ravech seems to think that Bichette is a wordsmith. It’s okay, guys. No need to make fun of him. Ravy doesn’t get out much. He watches baseball for 7-8 months out of the year and then, just like every other baseball player, hibernates until mid-January. There’s no time to listen to popular music. Besides, when the song came out, Ravech was probably just like us, preparing his scouting reports on every single player that could be relevant to baseball this season.

 

Harper’s Shoes

Sheesh, Bryce. Save some drip for the rest of us!

The googly eyes on the side are just… chefs kiss

Harper’s Opening Day cleats over the past few years have been phenomenal. Last year, he wore a pair that had the Phanatic’s face on the top in Swarovski crystals, complete with Phanatic fur.

I am a little concerned with the progression of the cleats, however. 2020 saw the Phanatic fur make its debut on his cleats and 2021 brought the mascot onto his shoes a little bit more, almost as if the Phanatic itself was somehow taking over Bryce’s cleats one Opening Day at a time. At this rate, I fully expect Bryce to be literally wearing the mascot costume by 2025. And, even in the mascot costume, Harper would still go 1-for-3 with a booming home run.

 

Mic’d Up: A Saga

Just a few days ago, I wrote about wanting more mic’d-up moments in the game. To quote myself:

“Mic’d up moments truly are the best moments. One of the things that I really enjoyed about 2020 was the microphones on the field that caught everything. It really added some color to the game and made me feel like I was right there on the field.”

Well, 2021 is off to a great start for hot mic fans! First off, we got this gem from a disgruntled Anaheim fan in the 5th inning (about 16 or 17 seconds in), just after Adam Eaton goes yard off of Dylan “Dealin'” Bundy:

The fan made another appearance, this time on the Angels’ broadcast. Both TV crews caught this man slandering the good city and teams of Chicago.

I guess the good vibes from Opening Day didn’t spread to everyone. Too bad. The Mariners/Giants game also had their own hot mic heckler, a lady that just yelled ‘WOOO’ after nearly every pitch! You can hear it in the clip below after the count runs to 2-1:

May the TV mics always catch the best fan and player moments. Amen.

 

Bellinger’s Home Run

You’ll have to forgive Justin Turner. He’s too busy enjoying being a reigning World Series champion and pulling pranks to properly run the bases.

The ball is most certainly gone — without fan interference — and yet Turner thinks the outfielder has made quite the play at the fence. Hilarity ensues.

The official baseball scorer’s notes on this play: Cody Bellinger singles on a fly ball to left fielder Raimel Tapia. Justin Turner scores. Cody Bellinger out at 2nd, third baseman Josh Fuentes. (Pitching: German Marquez). 

It looks like we will have to wait a little longer for Bellinger’s first home run of 2021. Sorry, fantasy managers!

 

The Astros are Doing Things

People don’t forget. Least of all fans of teams that played the Astros many, many times during their era of cheating. They really let them have it in the first inning:

Fortunately, Zack Greinke didn’t let it bother him:

I wonder if Mark Canha would like that pitch back. I think so. Pitching is just simply unfair these days.

And, finally, Dusty Baker hit us with an all-time classic mask:

Groovy!

 

Adam Sloate

Die-hard Angels fan since birth; misses the good ol' days of Vladdy, Kendrys, and Weaver. Temple University alumnus, UCLA Law student.

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