The crack of the bat, the smell of the grass - there’s nothing like opening day! No matter what the temperature is outside, it just feels warmer, and no matter how old you are, you just feel younger.

Bob Levey, Getty Images
Bob Levey, Getty Images
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Who took you to your first baseball game? If you're like me, your Dad took you. I remember the first baseball game my Dad took me to in 1970. The Yankees were hosting the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium in 1970. The Yankees won 4-1

I’ll never forget the site of the stadium. Up until that time, I had only seen it on TV. It had seemed so much bigger when it was on television. My father isn’t much of a baseball fan, but he took me to that game, and many more after that. Eventually, when I lived in Union City, my friends and I would go into Port Authority on Saturdays and take the train to Yankee or Shea depending on who was playing at home.

Growing up with the “generation gap” that existed in the 70's, my father and I didn’t agree on a lot, but the great equalizer for us was sports. When I talked sports with my father, this little boy became a man, and held his own in a man’s conversation. Today my father is 91 years old, and we still talk sports. In fact, I’ve been lucky enough to talk sports with many baseball players, writers, and “experts." I still take my father's opinion the most seriously.

When was your first baseball game, and who took you?

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