I am not sure which is worse: a snowy Opening Day or an Opening Day without the Phillies playing. I guess things could have been worse, at least I am not a Brewers fan. Still the wintry mix we received in New England today dampened my start-of-baseball excitement. The thrill of the offseason also wore off and I worried this team would be overburdened with high expectations. Somehow I cannot shake the instinctive pessimism that used to be a trademark of Phillies fans.

So circumstances arose that prevented me from watching any of today’s opener and I can’t say I was disappointed. That is until I came back to my desk and everyone in the office started telling me about the dramatic finish. I decided to give Opening Day a do over. I tried to ignore the post game coverage while I finished my work day. Then I went home, bought a season pass to MLB.tv and watched the replay on my Roku.

It was a good night, must see TV. Halladay looked strong. The bullpen did not look as bad as described, things just got out of hand in the 7th. What made me happiest though was seeing Howard and Rollins contribute key hits in the 9th. Sure the offense as a whole was sluggish, but when these guys are hitting good things happen for the Phillies. Rollins could hardly contain himself from jumping out of the dugout every time someone made contact in the 9th. These guys still have high hopes and now I do too.