Three Days Until Opening Day!
Today’s flashback – Opening Day 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012 vs. Atlanta Braves
Win, by score of 1-0
April 5, 2012 was the club’s 51st Opening Day. It’s hard to say what this Opening Day was really about. Was it about the kickoff to the season-long 50th Anniversary celebration? Was it about the first Mets season in the post-Jose Reyes era, and in which the club was picked by most to finish in last place? Was it about the tribute to Gary Carter, who had passed away during the offseason? Or was it about the return of Johan Santana, who hadn’t pitched in 573 days, attempting to come back from his 2010 surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate capsule in his left shoulder? For me, I’ll always remember it as the game at which my wife and I broke the news that we were expecting our second child.
It was a beautiful blue-skied afternoon for baseball, with 42,080 fans officially in attendance. The magnetic calendar given out wasn’t too bad looking either. It was the return of the die-cut schedule, even if it was still mostly rectangular, designed to resemble a flatscreen TV. A much bigger redesign was in CitiField itself. The outfield walls had been reconfigured, with new walls erected in centerfield and right field. The idea was to make the park slightly less pitcher-friendly, and a bit more David Wright-friendly. Our Mets looked better too, with blue and orange and nary a drop of black on the primary home unis, other than the “Kid 8” patches worn in memory of Gary Carter.
Johan Santana pitched five strong innings for the Mets faithful, allowing just two hits and two walks, with 5 strikeouts. At one point Santana retired 12 straight Braves. David Wright drove in the only run of the game with a single to drive in Andres Torres. It took four Mets relievers from the new-look bullpen to complete the shutout: Ramon Ramirez (who earned the win), Tim Byrdak, John Rauch, and Frank Francisco. The Mets improved to a record of 33-18 on opening day (the best in baseball), a record the team will take to Monday’s home opener against the San Diego Padres.
