Miami Herald · Mar 29, 2019
Miami Marlins’ future may be bright, but Opening Day commenced growing pains
Everybody remembers their first Opening Day, though not always fondly.
Manager Don Mattingly’s first-ever home opener as a Yankee in 1983 saw the first baseman try to pick a ball in the dirt and have it flip up over his head, and later couldn’t handle a bad hop on a potential double-play ball in a 13-2 loss to the Tigers.
“It wasn’t great at all getting booed at Yankee Stadium,” he recalled before Thursday’s 27th Opening Day in Marlins franchise history. “I don’t think [those two plays] were my fault, but it was that kind of day. But you know what? It’s good to start at the bottom and work your way up, and I started at the bottom that day.”