Cardinals pitcher wants opening day to be a state holiday, let kids out of school
The Royals will be playing in their third home opener of the season on Thursday and will be going for a rare sweep of the trifecta of games.
Last week, the Royals defeated the Texas Rangers 14-10 in their opening-day game at Kauffman Stadium. On Monday, the Royals spoiled Cleveland’s home opener with a 3-0 victory.
Now the Royals are in Chicago and will face the White Sox in their home opener Thursday at Guaranteed Rate Field. That means the Royals players will take their place on the base line once again when the teams are announced.
Pomp and circumstance is part of opening day games, which more often than not start in the afternoon. Unfortunately for kids, they are in school, but if Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright had his way, he’d have Missouri Gov. Mike Parson let the kids skip the books in favor of baseball.
“I love home openers, especially St. Louis’ home opener,” Wainwright told the Post-Dispatch’s Rick Hummel. “The governor ought to issue this as a state holiday. Let kids out of school and all kinds of stuff — that’s just my opinion.”
Of course, Parson would need to allow the kids to take two days off in years like this one: one for the Royals and one for the Cardinals.
My suggestion: make opening day a half-day and let the kids out of school around noon.
The good news for school kids is the Cardinals game, like the Royals-Rangers contest at Kauffman Stadium, begins in the mid-afternoon. That should allow any young fans to make it to the ballpark (or their televisions) without missing much of the opener.
This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 10:07 AM.
