Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning during the regular season you’ll get a fresh, topical story to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
Until now, the best story that captured the essence of Paul Goldschmidt happened when he was an emerging star with the Diamondbacks and his teammates wanted the baseball world to know it. They ordered T-shirts with the nickname they had bestowed on him: “America’s First Baseman.” Goldschmidt thanked them for their salesmanship, but then told them in so many words, “I’m not wearing it and I’d appreciate it if none of you do, either.