By Adam Gardner / March 26, 2026
We’re so close. I compared it to Christmas in Monday’s post, and now we’re at Baseball Christmas Eve. The Kansas City Royals play baseball tomorrow: Let the 2026 season begin!
There really is something special about Opening Day. I don’t want to wax poetic about baseball too much because there have been so many baseball movies that have done it so well already. In fact, I’ll have to break down baseball movies in a future post.
But it really does feel like a rebirth every year. The timing is perfect because we’re into spring when the grass, trees and flowers come back to life. The weather is getting better (depending on where you are and if you’re lucky enough).
That special feeling
There are positives and negatives when it comes to growing up in a small town. One giant positive is that I grew up around plenty of grass, fields, nature, etc. It’s really hard for me to imagine growing up in a city where everything is concrete except for little pockets of parks that had to be carved out by city planners.
I talked to a University of Kansas women’s basketball player back in 2008. She was from New York and I wondered how she wound up in Lawrence. She said when she visited, everything was so green and she’d never seen that before. She had really only known city blocks. The concrete jungle is real and it blew my mind.
There is one thing I can compare it to, though. When I take my first trip to Kauffman Stadium each season, there is a moment of anticipation that builds into a crescendo. It builds as we’re filtering through the parking lot, making our way to the gate, passing through security, getting inside the gates and seeing the stadium standing proudly in front of me.
The feeling intensifies as we approach the concourse. Everything adds to it – the other fans walking around in every direction, the smells of different food vendors floating around, the sound of the PA filling the air.
Then, finally, you walk close enough and the field opens up to you. There it is, just as you remember it, but more beautiful each and every time. The grass is greener than anything you’ve seen. The brown of the dirt is vibrant, somehow. The white bases and lines pop like they’re shining.
I have to stop and take it in each time, letting baseball envelope me like a warm blanket on a cold day. I grew up with a front yard and back yard. I’ve seen plenty of grass and dirt and I played baseball growing up. But that first view of the field each season makes me feel like I’m seeing perfection. To paraphrase “Field of Dreams,” it’s not heaven, it’s baseball.
Royals set Opening Day roster
The Royals roster didn’t include many surprises. Michael Massey has to start the season on the Injured List, unfortunately, and Drew Waters was DFA’d. That opened up space for Nick Loftin and Tyler Tolbert to make the Opening Day roster.
I’m bullish on the Royals this season. The 2024 postseason team was a little surprising after not competing for several years. Last year’s season felt doomed after a terrible June, but they still battled until deep into the final month.
This could be the Royals year. The pitching has been a strong unit and now it really feels like the bats are in place to balance things out. It’s not “I hope Bobby gets on, steals a base or two, and gets knocked in.” The lineup really can pack a punch now.
The Royals are No. 13 in The Athletic’s preseason power rankings, and the seventh American League team. Yes, that link is behind a paywall but if you love sports, The Athletic has a lot of great content. Look around for sign-up deals, you’ll love it. This isn’t an ad, I’m just a big fan.
In that article, FanGraphs gives the Royals a 38.1% chance of making the postseason. I’m excited enough to throw a big $10 on the Royals to win the World Series. But please don’t take betting advice from me – there’s a reason I don’t mention it much here and won’t ever give suggestions.
(Full disclosure: I do use a betting app on my phone. It’s legal in Kansas, I’ve won some and I’ve lost a bit less and it can be fun. But I am growing more and more tired of sports gambling getting thrown in my face when I watch a game. It’s annoying and when you think about the problems we’ve seen with game manipulation for gambling purposes, I would be OK if it was illegal again.)
The Athletic mentions the Royals have the makings of a top-10 offense. That’s incredible to think about considering the struggles the 2025 team had scoring runs. But it makes sense.
Maikel Garcia broke out in 2025 and was just named the World Baseball Classic MVP. Vinnie Pasquantino provides a steady power threat. Salvador Perez isn’t getting any younger, but he’s still Salvy and now he gets to split time with Carter Jensen behind the plate. I’ve already talked about Jac Caglianone’s still very real potential.
Joe Posnanski used to write a column every year for the Kansas City Star that went over what all needed to go right for the Royals to be a winner. There were a lot of “if this happens…” included.
We don’t need that many “if this happens…” this year. At least nothing crazy. If the pitching continues what they’ve been doing, and if the bats continue to show progression, and if a couple young guys take the next step, we’re in great shape. I’m not asking for lightning in a bottle, just players to either continue being who they are or to continue developing. It’s attainable.
Opening Day memories
I’ve never actually attended an Opening Day game. It’s a little shocking when I think about it, but it will happen eventually.
I took the afternoon off work for last year’s Opening Day. I grilled some chicken and hot dogs and settled into my living room.
Hot dog. Macaroni salad. Cold beer. Simple, elegant, baseball.
One of my favorite Opening Day memories came in 2004, a pretty miserable season looking back at it. At the time, though, there was a lot of excitement. The 2003 season was unpredictably good, with the Royals in first place for a good chunk of the season before ultimately missing the postseason.
The 2004 team finished 58-104. Angel Berroa couldn’t live up to his 2003 Rookie of the Year season, Mike Sweeney was the best hitter but only played in 106 games, and Carlos Beltran was traded mid-season and then we got to watch him excel in the postseason for the Astros. Not great.
But Opening Day 2004? Magical. The Royals entered the bottom of the ninth down 7-3. All of the excitement of the 2003 season had been squashed by a 4-run White Sox second inning. But that all changed in the ninth.
Tony Pena sent up Mendy Lopez in place of Matt Stairs because the White Sox had a lefty on the mound. Lopez launched a 3-run home run to tie the game. Insanity. I immediately jumped on the Mendy Lopez bandwagon, but nothing ever lived up to that moment when he homered in the gorgeous Royal blue top.
Moments later, Beltran belted a 2-run homer to win it. A 6-run, ninth inning walk-off win against a division rival – is this heaven? No, it’s baseball.
Sure, the rest of the season went poorly, but 22 years later and those memories still dance in my head. That’s the power baseball has over me.
9-9-9 Challenge
You may have seen this idea floating around, or maybe you’re completely ignorant of it and that’s OK. I don’t remember the first time I heard of the 9-9-9 Challenge, but I know my initial reaction was “I must do this.”
The idea is very simple. There are 9 innings in a baseball game, so what if you ate 9 hot dogs and drank 9 beers – 1 for every inning? A dog and a beer for every inning, perfectly balanced, just as Thanos desired.
Major League stadiums are even embracing the idea, as you can see in the pic above. It looks like the hot dogs are smaller than normal and the beers aren’t full pours, but that’s probably a good idea out at a stadium.
I talked it over with a friend of mine a couple months ago and it’s settled, we’re doing it. We’ve got a date picked out and it’s in my phone calendar: May 17. It’s a Sunday day game with the Royals at the Cardinals.
I’ll be honest, I’m nervous. I’m 42 years old and my body can’t handle what used to be light work. Nine hot dogs with buns plus 9 more drinks? I joked with my wife that it needs to be the 9-9-9-9 Challenge and the fourth 9 is the amount of Tums I’m going to take.
Yet we will prevail. I’ll talk myself into it being a good luck charm for the Royals. The only decision now is what condiments should I use on the dogs?
