Tom Verducci's Opening Day Essay Will Make You Cry

I need a minute.

Damn, I've missed baseball. It's been so long that I wondered if I'd even care when I watched the Braves again in front of an empty stadium playing some weird variation of a baseball season only vaguely reminiscent of the sport we've watched our entire lives. And then I watched that video and nearly teared up, so yeah, I'd say I'm still in.

There's just something different about baseball that strikes a chord with this country that I don't think any other sport can. Sure, everybody loves football, but baseball is engrained into the consciousness of the United States. And through every major hardship this country has endured, there's always been baseball.

Where I grew up, the only reason anybody watched the NBA or NHL was as a stopgap between the end of college football season and the start of Spring Training. And to this day, while I love basketball and hockey, there is nothing that gets me going like Opening Day. Hell, I showed up to the office in damn near full Atlanta Braves uniform in February because pitchers and catchers reported to camp.

Welcome back, baseball. It's been far too long.