Opening Day

Thomas Boswell was right, time begins on Opening Day. Opening Day should be a national holiday. When every baseball fan still can reasonably cherish the hope of going to the World Series. The day, at the end of which, half the teams are in first place, the other half are in last. What defines a successful season, beyond winning more games than you lost? I would posit the argument that it depends on which team you are discussing. The Yankees, the Phillies, and the Red Sox will not consider it a success unless they win the World Series. The Twins will consider it a success if they win the American League Central. The Royals and the Pirates would consider 82 wins a successful season. Where do the Texas Rangers stand in all this? I believe winning the Series would constitute exceptional success. If they win the American League West, that will be success. Now, the people who are paid money to discuss these things are saying the Rangers should win it all. They say this for a very cynical reason. The odds are the Rangers will not win it all, and the writers can then criticize the team to their heart's content. You should have kept Cliff Lee. Losing Chuck Greenberg was critical. Should have traded Michael Young. The general manager is inept, and so on. Sports reporters in the Dallas area think of themselves as critics and live to denigrate any professional effort. I believe this attitude developed in the 1960s, and it had to do with the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys from the late 60s to the early 80s were a team that defined success by winning the Super Bowl. There are few teams, college or professional, in any sport or any era that can say this realistically. I have already mentioned the teams in baseball. In football, it is probably New England, and, maybe Pittsburgh. The Lakers, Heat, and Celtics wear this distinction in basketball, as do the Red Wings in hockey. In college football, Alabama, Notre Dame, Florida, and Oklahoma. Others have different measures of success. Ohio State is content with winning the Big Ten. Maryland with going to a bowl game. Different expectations, different teams, different realities.