It's opening day. Up until maybe five years ago baseball was my favorite sport. It's the organized sport my brothers and I played when we were kids. It's the sport I know the most about. It's the sport where I'm least forgiving of professionals who forget the fundamentals (tag the base!). It's the sport my dad played in college (where he pitched batting practice to Roberto Clemente). It's the sport that had an instructional clinic named after my grandfather.

In the early nineties when the Pirates were good and the Penguins were better I only really had eyes for the Pirates. The last few years, the Pirates have made it really hard for me to get into baseball the way I used to. I still follow them pretty religiously but there's no joy in it anymore. The Steelers have surpassed the Pirates as my favorite local team, and the Penguins have become my favorite team to watch in person, but it's opening day, and, at least this morning, baseball is the greatest game in the world.