CLEVELAND — Opening Day for Major League Baseball will be coming down the road soon. Here in Cleveland, the Guardians home opener should be quite a day. The first day of baseball at Progressive Field will be on April 8 and the total solar eclipse will be the pregame show. That's right! The world will go dark in the middle of the afternoon and Cleveland will be the best seat in the house to put on protective glasses and watch it. And then we'll watch the Guardians and White Sox when it's light again.
My favorite Opening Day of all time was April 4, 1994. That's the day Jacobs Field became our new baseball home as baseball in Cleveland took a dramatic turn for the better. Do you remember that beautiful, sunny day? The Seattle Mariners were here and Cleveland was bursting with excitement. Not only was the ballpark ready to open its doors to the first of 455 consecutive sellouts, but the Indians were ready to win. The Indians were loaded with young talent with a sprinkle of successful veterans to help the young players navigate a 162-game schedule.
President Bill Clinton was there. Ohio Governor George Voinovich was, too. And you had a dream pitching matchup of Dennis Martinez vs. Randy Johnson. Martinez had come to the Indians from the Montreal Expos. Randy Johnson was coming off a 19-8 record from the year before.
But the Jacobs Field debut was being threatened by Johnson, who was setting the Indians down 1-2-3 every inning it seemed. The Indians had no hits through seven innings as the Mariners led 2-0. Remember, Bob Feller is the only pitcher in either the American League or National League to throw a no-hitter on Opening Day. And here was Feller sitting in the Jacobs Field press box watching The Big Unit challenge his historic record. A record he always cherished. Finally, Sandy Alomar Jr. squirted a ball through the infield and into right field. The Indians would rally and tie the game at 2-2.
The game went into extra innings as the Mariners scored in the top of the 10th to lead 3-2. But the Indians came back and tied it, then Wayne Kirby won it in the 11th to make the day just perfect. Now that's an Opening Day I'll never forget. The win by the Indians seemed to give them the confidence to become close to unbeatable in their new ballpark.
The sad last chapter of this story is that baseball ended that season on August 12. At the time of the work stoppage, the Indians were in contention for the Central Division crown and were seemingly headed to the postseason. But baseball suddenly came to a complete halt. I always wonder how that year would have played out here in Cleveland.
So with all of you, I will be at Progressive Field on April 8 when the Guardians face the White Sox. It's always a special day, but it will be hard to top Opening Day -- April 4, 1994. That's when baseball woke up in Cleveland after a very long nap.