Your favorite Opening Day game

As we get closer to the annual countdown thread for Opening Day on here and the start of spring training, I thought maybe it'd be a good time to ask...

What's your favorite Opening Day of all time?

I can only go back to 1996 or so as far as Opening Days I remember, but BY FAR my favorite was Joe Randa's walkoff in 2005 against the Mets. The game was Pedro's first in a Mets uniform, and filled with drama, not to mention I was in attendance for the Reds comeback win :). Ramon Hernandez's walk off from a few seasons ago is a close second.

How about the rest of you?

As soon as I saw the thread title, the 2005 game jumped to me. It's the only Opening Day I've ever been to, and beating Pedro seemed like an impossibility at the time. I remember Adam Dunn's quote from after the game on the radio, he was asked how he felt to be on pace for 324 home runs. He said, "Well I'm on pace for 324 strikeouts, too." That was a really fun team to watch if you skipped the parts of the innings where they had to pitch.

April 4, 1988--got to attend Opening Day with my late dad, the only time we did this. Remember the strangeness of Davey at 2b and that goggled rookie 3b that few had yet heard of. I recall the comeback after being down early, did not remember the free baseball though.

Any of the Opening Days in the mid 70s, because my parents were cool and would let my sister and I play hookey and leave school at lunch time to watch the game on channel 4. It was also one of the few home games done by the Reds broadcasting team at the time, so that was a special treat. The 1975 tense EI affair vs. the Dodgers was probably the most memorable out of all those though.

Ramon's Homer in 2011 was also one of my favorites from the current era.

The biggest egg laid ever was Jimmy Haynes pitching Opening Day in GAB. The Pirates demolished us to christen the new ballpark.

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Originally Posted by cincrazy

I can only go back to 1996 or so as far as Opening Days I remember, but BY FAR my favorite was Joe Randa's walkoff in 2005 against the Mets. The game was Pedro's first in a Mets uniform, and filled with drama, not to mention I was in attendance for the Reds comeback win

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Filled with drama... do not forget in that game that the REDS were down 2 runs going into the 9th inning. Adam Dunn hit a 2-run HR right before Joe Randa to tie the game. Then Randa followed with the game winner... back-to-back. Probably my fav too!

Randa's walkoff HR in 2005, Dunn's 2 HR game in 2007, and Razor Ramon's walkoff HR in 2011 stand out in recent memory.

Joe Randa's HR and Ramon Hernandez HR are the two that stand out most recently. I can remember Hank Aaron tying Babe Ruth's HR record on opening day 1974. That was also Marty's first game as PBP announcer. I can remember quite a few blowout wins for the Reds during the 70's. But nothing really stands out from those games.

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Originally Posted by WildcatFan

As soon as I saw the thread title, the 2005 game jumped to me. It's the only Opening Day I've ever been to, and beating Pedro seemed like an impossibility at the time. I remember Adam Dunn's quote from after the game on the radio, he was asked how he felt to be on pace for 324 home runs. He said, "Well I'm on pace for 324 strikeouts, too." That was a really fun team to watch if you skipped the parts of the innings where they had to pitch.

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I'm with you on this one. I remember about a week before the game, I decided I wanted to be in town for the Opening Day celebration. Not necessarily to go to the game, but just be in town and soak it all in.

That weekend I drove to Louisville to see the pre-season starters vs backups game at Slugger park on Saturday. Then came home and found my dad had hooked my brother and me up with tickets. Not only tickets, but ridiculously good seats. Like 3rd row behind the Mets' dugout good seats.

What I remembered most was feeling so confident going into the 9th, thinking if they just kept it at 2, then Kearns and Dunn had it in them to at least tie it.

And the level of noise was so loud after Dunn's homer, that I don't think people were even paying attention until the Randa's crack of the bat.


2011 would have matched that one for me, but my brother and I decided to finance our "Baker's dozen" ticket package by selling the opening day seats.
One of us even remarked, "It's not like they can match the last one we went to anyway."

Randa's walk-off, I was there.

Feels like a long time ago.

1980. My one and only opening day. It was at Riverfront (obviously) against the Braves. I was pumped because I assumed it would be Tom Seaver starting. It turned out being Frank Pastore (I never found out why...I'm assuming Tom was injured). Regardless, Pastore pitched an absolute gem. 3 hit shutout of the Braves. We won like 8 to zip. Just a great way to start a season.


~edit~
Remembering this got me curious. I found the game. http://www.baseball-reference.com/bo...98004090.shtml
I never realized that Pastore also allowed 0 walks. It was a NINE to zip win too.

Hehe. I also just found out after ALL THIS TIME why Seaver didn't start. The internet is a beautify thing. http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballp...age=chronology

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Apr 9, 1980 - The Reds Tom Seaver is scratched from his Opening Day start against the Braves because of the flu‚ and his replacement‚ Frank Pastore‚ tosses a 3-hit shutout. Braves P Phil Niekro is on the short end of the 9-0 decision. George Foster knocks a 2-run double off Niekro in the first inning‚ and receives credit for the first game-winning RBI‚ a newly created ML stat that will survive till the end of the 1988 season.

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Heck, for that matter I never even realized that they did away with the GWRBI stat. I just never freaking noticed.