The smell of hot dogs on the grill and freshly popped popcorn, the cool breeze on a blistering hot summer’s day, the crack of the bat and ball and the great abundance of outrageous fans everywhere. Yep, it’s safe to say that baseball is back and in full swing.

This week marked the start of regular season play for all teams in the league. A long awaited and sacred to some season opener is among us. And if you’re lucky enough, that season opener is at home.

The Cincinnati Reds were lucky enough to have that privilege on Monday night as they took on the Philadelphia Phillies winning 6-2. Senior Ryan Pacatte, a huge Reds fan, said opening day had been a long time coming.

“I’ve been waiting for opening day for months,” Pacatte said. “It’s like a holiday in Cincinnati and it’s always a blast to get back in the swing of things.”

Pacatte credits the team to being the underdogs this season, but are showing great potential from their preseason play.

“[This season] I’ll be watching a team with a few veterans but mainly young guys with minimal experience,” Pacatte said. “Outside sources say we will be horrible, but I think there will be a couple players that hardly anyone’s ever heard of that make a big impact.”

Pacatte hopes the Reds will shock everyone in the end, but whether you’re the underdogs or a top ranked team like the Chicago Cubs, the end is far far away in baseball terms.

The World Series drought stricken Chicago Cubs made a dent last year in their playoff run compared to their other previous 100 plus playoff attempts. The Cubs finished last season with the third best record in baseball but were unable to beat the New York Mets for the National League Championship and advance on to the World Series.
Nevertheless, the Cubs remain relentless in their efforts towards a final victory, something we only hear of in history class now.

Senior Trevor Martin and junior Michael Picchiotti are a few students at EHS who are a part of the great fan base the Cubs bring in every year.

“I’ve never been more excited to follow the Cubs,” Picchiotti said. “Hopefully we take it game by game before focusing on playoffs, but this could be our year for sure.”

The Cubs are one of the highest ranked team in terms of who’s to win it all this season when the magic month of October rolls around, according to mlb.com.

“It looks that way on paper so far,” Martin said. “I believe as long as the Cubs stay healthy and can neutralize the pressure they have on them then there is no doubt in my mind they could make a run to a World Series title.”

Although a weak start in preseason with an 11-19 record, the Cubs are still the favored team because of a full roster of young position players.

“We played a lot of young players during preseason and I hope they continue to play exceptional,” Picchiotti said. “…We have the best pitching staff in the MLB.”

A hard statement to argue with indeed. The Cubs have one of the youngest and best pitching staffs in the MLB with pitchers like John Lackey and Jake Arrieta.

“I’ll be keeping my on them,” Martin said. “I’ll be watching for Bryant to see if he can expand on his last season when he won rookie of the year.”

Though the Cubs have a huge hype surrounding them, their longtime rivals the St. Louis Cardinals are looking to take that hype down.

It’s a great time to be a St. Louis sports fan. With both the Blues and Cardinals playing it’s hard to not get excited.

The redbirds started their season Sunday, April 3 against the Pittsburg Pirates and have their home opener this Monday against the Brewers.

“I’m really excited for the home opener and for the Cardinals in general this season,” senior Kent Roberts said. “…I think that a lot of people are underestimating what the Cardinals can do.”

The birds went 11-13 in spring training games and are looking good for regular season. With Jhonny Peralta hurt the Cards will have a huge offensive gap to fill, according to Roberts.

“It’s a bit nerve raking thinking about whether or not somebody else is going to pick up the slack,” Roberts said. “…I’m excited to see what the young outfielders can do, I think they could be really big factors this year.”

So spring training is over and it’s time for the big leagues to begin once again. Like the song, root, root for the home team, and if they don’t win it would be a shame, whoever your favorite team is.