Tradition, With a New Look

Ah, day baseball, the way the game was meant to be played. The Boys in Blue open their season at 1 p.m. today. All’s right with the world. Well, almost all.

This could be the last season that an O’Malley owns the Dodgers and, for the first time in two decades, Tommy Lasorda won’t be in the dugout for opening day. But change also delivers hope. There are some new faces on the infield. Hope springs.

Down in Anaheim, the Angels will take the field Wednesday sporting a new logo, an A crossed by a halo topped by an angel’s wing. In San Diego to the south and up in San Francisco and Oakland, the Padres, Giants and A’s are ready to get underway.

If you like your baseball up close and personal, there are plenty of opportunities in Southern California to catch the widespread revival of minor league ball. The California League starts Thursday with the Lancaster JetHawks kicking off the season against the High Desert Mavericks. In Orange County, the Mission Viejo Vigilantes, a member of the independent Western Baseball League, will play home games at Saddleback College.

Meanwhile, the crack of aluminum against rawhide, while it may lack tradition, is the sound of the season on our college campuses.

Now spring is really here.