It’s the middle of February, so it must be time for NC State, Duke and UNC to play baseball
As winter turns into spring (March 20th), as Hot Stove Leagues disband with baseball’s off-season discussions winding down and negotiations by free agents coming to a head (eventually Bryce Harper and Manny Machado will find teams to offer overly ridiculous sums of mega-cash), as pitchers and catchers report to spring training the second week of February, anticipation of Opening Day grows greater for those of us who have had enough of college basketball season.
Baseball’s Opening Day? That would be February 15 around here.
Baseball fans usually look to April 1 as a symbol of rebirth, when last year is forgotten and a new season begins, though in 2019 Major League Baseball teams are scheduled for the first pitch of renewal in the United States on March 28th. (The Oakland A’s and Seattle Mariners play two games in Tokyo, Japan, March 20-21.
So, what’s with Friday, February 15?
That’s when the college baseball season begins come hell, high water, rain, snow, gloom of night or a high temperature in the 60s, according to AccuWeather’s extended forecast. The following two-day temps are predicted to be in the 50s with a slight chance of a rain.
This is not a weather outlook. It’s about the seemingly ridiculous way-too-early start of college baseball, a game that should be played in the sunshine with temperatures that make the game more enjoyable for fans as well as the players and coaches. It should be a place to relax and let time stand still, to enjoy the day at the old ball game.
Opening Day
So, on Friday, February 15:
In Chapel Hill, North Carolina hosts Xavier at 3 p.m. The Tar Heels and the Musketeers have a three-game series scheduled, continuing Saturday at 2 and Sunday at 1. All games are on campus at Boshamer Stadium.
At the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Duke opens a three-game tilt with Lehigh with first pitch at 4 p.m. The Blue Devils and the Mountain Hawks also play in the DBAP at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
And, in Raleigh, N.C. State hosts Bucknell on at 3:00 p.m. The Wolfpack and the Bison are scheduled for a three-game series: Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. All games are on campus at Doak Field.
Fortunately, the extended forecasts for late February and early March appear to be in the 50s and 60s. As the month progresses, the 70s are possible, but to quote Nuke LaLoosh in Bull Durham, “…sometimes it rains.”
For those who enjoy baseball, especially the atmosphere, the relaxed pace — though on occasion it’s too slow with pitchers taking their sweet time, with batters adjusting batting gloves and other stuff, with coaches making pitching changes in a blind second — and the reasonable ticket and concession prices, the college game just starts too soon.
By the time MLB Opening Day gets here, the Tar Heels, Blue Devils and Wolfpack each will have played 26 of their 56 regular season games, weather permitting. By the time the NCAA men’s basketball championship game is over on April 8th, add seven more games. In other words, more than half of the scheduled games are in February and March, not the best time for baseball in much of the country.
On top of the regular season, the Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament is May 21-25.
With the idea of starting college baseball April 1 and moving the College World Series to the first week of August, I reached out to the NCAA for an explanation of the February 15th opening day. A response came in an email from Chris Radford, NCAA Associate Director of Public and Media Relations.
“The mid-February start date is a product of the regular-season ending Memorial Day weekend and having a permissible 56-game schedule,” wrote Radford after conferring with the NCAA baseball administrators. “Essentially, that’s the minimum time needed to play a 56-game schedule without an increase in missed-class time, etc.”
He went on to suggest potential ways to address the issue.
“Reducing the number of permissible contests down from 56 has been discussed for many years but the baseball-playing membership has consistently opposed a reduction in games,” he wrote. “So has extending the end of the season, thus pushing back the championship and College World Series. But this would potentially create substantial logistical issues (financial and otherwise) for most universities and student-athletes, particularly since this would extend the CWS well past the conclusion of the spring semester at most schools.”
The CWS is now in late June, nearly two months after most spring semesters have concluded. So, what’s another 40 days?
Radford said a few years ago the Big Ten conference, to no one’s surprise, introduced a proposal to move college baseball opening day to a later date, but it did not gain momentum among the membership.
That’s too bad. Even so, and weather permitting, I’ll be at Opening Day. Join me.
Jim Pomeranz is a Cary writer.
This story was originally published February 14, 2019 at 10:32 AM with the headline "It’s the middle of February, so it must be time for NC State, Duke and UNC to play baseball."