Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
The 2012 Major League Baseball season will open with the christening of one ballpark, a 20th-anniversary celebration of the ballpark that changed everything and the hope of another World Series that will end no later than October.
The Cardinals and Miami Marlins will begin the season with the opening of Florida’s new ballpark on Wednesday, April 4, followed by six openers the next day. The regular season will conclude on Wednesday, Oct. 3.
MLB announced the 2012 schedule on Wednesday, as the legendary Vin Scully was speaking for all of us last month when he declared that “we will be back” next spring. You can now find your favorite club’s updated month-by-month calendar at each club’s official team website to start planning ballpark outings.
Prior to Opening Day 2011 — which was on Wednesday, March 30 — Opening Days throughout the game had been held on Sunday or Monday each year since 1999, excluding special international events. The Marlins will host that inaugural game by replacing the legacy of the Orange Bowl in Little Havana, west of downtown Miami, with a venue that will seat 37,000 fans. New Marlins Ballpark will feature a retractable roof and offer spectacular views of downtown Miami, hence the 2012 team name change.
Marlins fans have recent history on their side in hopes of a perfect beginning. Five of the last six ballpark christenings have been won by the home team, most recently by Minnesota against Boston on April 12, 2010, at Target Field. Washington is the only club since the start of the 2000 season that has opened a regular season in a new home park — typically christenings come after opening road trips — and that was a walk-off victory over Atlanta in 2008 at Nationals Park.
There will be six Thursday openers for the second time in as many seasons. Those games include Phillies at Pirates, Blue Jays at Indians, Red Sox at Tigers, Braves at Mets, Nationals at Cubs (Stephen Strasburg at Wrigley Field would be a must-see) and Dodgers at Padres. Scully will be back in the broadcast booth that day, returning for an amazing 63rd season with the Dodgers.
Ten games, including nine more openers, are scheduled for Friday, April 6. The Orioles will be host that day to the Twins, and it will mark the 20th anniversary of Oriole Park at Camden Yards — the HOK-designed ballpark that began the now-common trend of retro-modern parks. Cincinnati always starts its season at home, because that is baseball tradition, and in 2012 it will happen on this day against those same Marlins.
“The Reds already are working with the Findlay Market Parade organizers on Opening Day 2012,” said Reds chief operating officer Phil Castellini. “No fans look forward to the start of baseball season more than ours.”
The first full slate of 15 games is scheduled for that Saturday.
The 16th season of Interleague Play will feature many reprisals of past World Series, including Reds-Yankees and Pirates-Tigers (starting May 18); Mets-Yankees, Phillies-Orioles, Astros-White Sox, Blue Jays-Braves, Tigers-Reds and Rangers-Giants (starting June 8); Yankees-Braves, Pirates-Orioles, Tigers-Cubs (starting June 11-12); Phillies-Blue Jays, Red Sox-Cubs, Royals-Cardinals and White Sox-Dodgers (starting June 15); Cubs-White Sox, Giants-Angels, Braves-Yankees, Orioles-Mets and Dodgers-Athletics (June 18-19); and Cardinals-Royals, Giants-Athletics, Yankees-Mets, Rays-Phillies and Tigers-Pirates (starting June 22).
(story continues….)
Schedule HERE
WRITTEN BY Mark Newman / MLB.com& FULL STORY HERE
