Baseball (Essentially) Opening Day Notes

Among today’s essentially (defending champion L.A. won both “in Tokyo, Japan”) season opening baseball tilts are Detroit (Tigers) at L.A. (Dodgers), and New York Mets at Houston Astros.

Twenty years apart in 1935 and 1955 the Tigers and Dodgers (then in Brooklyn, however for only 2 more seasons before moving to Los Angeles), respectively won their first titles.

Both the Mets and Astros (then known as the Colt-45’s) entered the National League in 1962.

Houston is now an American League team, having won their two titles as such, in 2017 and 2022.

Julio Gotay, pictured above as a Cardinals’ player (he was in the Cards’ starting lineup vs the Mets in the latter’s first game ever in 1962), played 4 seasons for the ‘Stros (’66-’69).