Dodgers: Opening Day Is Always One for the Ages

With only three left days until the 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers home opener, with tickets in hand, money in pocket and exorbitant parking already paid for, it brings back memories of the dozens of home openers we’ve attended over nearly four decades.

The first one was in 1981. As a 15-year-old, non-driver’s licensed L.A. native, there had to be a way to get to Opening Day at Dodger Stadium.

In those days, the Dodgers used to play an exhibition game against USC at Dodger Stadium every spring. My friend, Danny, and I asked his mom to take us to the game. She did. We bought Opening Day tickets while we were there, and a tradition had begun.

Different friends have attended Opening Day with me over the past 37 seasons, in which I’ve only missed two – one because I was so sick I actually passed out the morning of the game, and the other because my car engine literally exploded on the drive down from the Bay Area the day before the game (living in the Bay Area was the worst two years of my life). One year, I even went alone in the rain with the flu because I couldn’t find anyone to go with me.

For the past decade, my two sons, Justice and Noah, and my friend, Scott (you can call him Burt), have attended Opening Day with me. (And a huge thank you to my wife, Stacey, for allowing me to spend all that money on tickets and Dodger Dogs).

Our tradition is, if the first pitch thrown is a strike, the Dodgers will win the World Series. It almost came true last season.

But, no matter who has attended with me, Opening Day has been one highlight reel after another.

The Dodgers are 67-63-4 all-time in home openers, including 33-27 since moving to L.A., and 20-17 since 1981.

So, let’s take a look at some of the more memorable Opening Days at Dodger Stadium since 1981.