By The Heckler

Okay, just so we’re clear – The Heckler may indeed have taken one or two high hard ones off the old helmet in his day, but even he realizes the 2006 season has already started, and that Opening Day was actually last week.

That being said, several teams have yet to have their home openers – including my fav bunch of ballers, the Motor City Kitties aka the Detroit Tigers – and as anyone will tell you, baseball doesn’t really start until your team has their home opener.

Well . . . that and having your first hot dog off the grill. Maybe a beer somewhere in there, too . . . and some sort of chips or nachos – yep – gotta have something salty in there . . . okay then the season is officially underway. Definitely. And after all, starting on the road in Kansas City doesn’t a season commence, at least for real fans (even though I took the day off for that, too).

For Detroit, Monday kicks off the Comerica Park-portion of their schedule with a game against the defending World Champion Chicago White Sox, and the Tigers – yes, those Tigers - are off and running this year with a perfect 5-0 start.

Along the way, they have also set a record for hitting an amazing 17 home runs in that span, led by Chris Shelton and his Major League-leading five. Did The Heckler mention he’s also hitting .700? On the defensive side, they remain letter-perfect, with each of their starting pitchers having garnered all their wins, allowing but 16 hits in 25 innings, only three earned runs among them, and all while issuing only three walks.

Yes, we’re still talking about the Detroit Tigers here.

A nice start, and an amazing elixir for a Metro Detroit area starved for a winning baseball team. Already, the signs of baseball fever are beginning to take hold, even outside the realm of the cornbread-eating diehard set. All this after five games.

Hockeytown? Hardly. With all due respect to the Red Wings and their three Stanley Cup championships over the last 10 years, drawing two million fans to see a pathetic ball-team (as the Tigers have been for years now) speaks to how willing the area truly is ready to embrace the team – imagine if they can really put it all together?

The Heckler’s devotion will officially kick-off sometime early Monday morning, when Irish Mike drops by to begin our annual ritual of “Breakfast at Heckler’s” to start our opening day festivities. Usually made up of steak and eggs, this year’s menu will be altered slightly to egg white omelets and dry toast (The Heckler has lost more than 30 pounds recently and is working hard for more) before moving on – probably within a few hours – to the outdoor grill, sunshine and the sounds of baseball over the radio, the way the baseball Gods prefer you to experience the game - at least for an inning or two – prior to moving back inside to watch the broadcast on TV.

The weatherman is calling for 60 degrees with a few cloudy periods, it’s a day off from work and Irish Mike and The Heckler are going to do it up in classic Opening Day style, rooting for a team currently hotter than Jessica Alba coming out of your shower with love in her eyes.

Well, maybe not quite that hot – at least not yet. Come September, who knows? Pennant races do strange things to people.

Oh, can this game be sweet at times, and nothing is better than your team in first place. Monday truly can’t come soon enough . . .

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 8th, 2006 at 10:39 pm and is filed under Baseball News and Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.