It’s here, it’s really here. We are finally going to see if all the worries, concerns, fears, hopes, dreams, goals and much more will be realised in front of us this evening.
With just over three hours to go until first pitch, we wait as the stadium fills up, the music blasts through the PA, the cracker jacks are consumed and the beer does flow.
We wait as the players go through batting practice, the pitchers do their warm-ups, the coaches run their drills, the managers confirm their lineups.
We wait as the groundskeeper, Murray Cook, checks the field for the final time, asks for specific areas of the infield dirt to be smoothed off, looks up at the lights, maybe wondering if they will cause as much of a problem as the coaches talked about, checks the artificial grass is completely flat.
We wait.
As a British and European baseball community, that’s what we have specialised in, waiting. We have been dreaming of this day and it’s finally here.
The weather is perfect, the teams are two powerhouses of baseball, the lineups can crush the ball, the starting pitchers are both top end starters, the bullpens strong in different ways.
We won’t have to say “We’re waiting” for much longer.
It’s here.
Major League Baseball really is here.