Opening Day Disaster

By Steven Lienert

It hadn't rained in a month, but as soon as Jon Lieber wound up for the first pitch of the 2006 baseball season, water began falling from the sky.

I've been going to Opening Day with my uncle for about 25 years, and this was just about one of the worst sports experiences ever.

Our day started off well enough...we had lunch at Nick's Cafe (a.k.a. Nick's Roast Beef) at 20th and Jackson. It was my first time there...that's a good freakin'sandwich. Anyhows, we got to Citizens Bank Band Box around 1:45 -- after BP but well before the game started. We had seats in the upper deck of left field...two sections away from Albert Pujols' bomb that seemingly put the Cardinals ahead by a 100 runs.

By the way, those walls they moved in the offseason? I think they may need to be moved back further. Like the Navy Yard.

Despite the speakers not working in the outfield, the skydivers delivering the flags and ball were awesome. Although I have to ask: Why is it okay for skydivers with smoke streaming from their ankles to land on the outfield grass, but Cardinal O'Hara's band and the soldiers carrying the humungous American Flag had to walk along the warning track?

Lieber actually had us on our feet in the top of the first. He had struck out the first two batters he faced and the fans were cheering like it was the bottom of the ninth of a no-hitter. We were jazzed and ready to cheer for something, anything. But Lieber walked Pujols and the Cardinals scored the first of many runs to come.

Bobby Abreu showed he was in midseason form -- his two hits came without any runners on base, and when he did come up with a runner in scoring position, he flied out. Unlike a guy that normally hustles his butt off, Abreu also had trouble digging a ball out of the corner and relaying it back to the infield. Chase Utley went into the stands, got a Schmitter, ate it, jumped back on the field and was still waiting for Abreu's relay throw. Take it easy, Bobby. There's still a 161 to go.

My seat stayed dry until got up to get another beer -- by the time I got back to my seat, it was soaked and the Phils were losing by three. Good thing the Phils gave out rally towels yesterday -- it was a way for fans to dry off their seat and keep the wind off the nape of their necks.

After Julio "Gasoline" Santana intentionally walked Jim Edmonds to load the bases for Scott Rolen (key the theme music to The Natural here), everyone in the Park knew he was gonna jack a grand slam. Sure enough, the Fightin's were down 8-1, Jimmy Rollins was already 0-for-3 and all the optimism that fans had felt from spring training had quickly disappeared.

Thinking we could beat traffic out of the stadium, my buddy and I left in the fifth inning. I mean, the game is on at the bar, and it sure as hell ain't raining in there. We got out of the stadium all right -- and then sat in traffic on I-95 for an hour and a half. While waiting to get off at Prospect Park, we heard on the radio that Ryan Howard had homered and Rollins got his base hit. Perfect.

It was a relief to get back home on the Main Line and finish the day pounding beers at the Wayne Beef 'N' Ale. After that and a warm shower, I realized that baseball season had finally returned. Unfortunately, I also remembered that I root for the Philadelphia Phillies. Only 161 more to go...

-You can reach Steven Lienert at slienert@hotmail.com