Opening day for Major League Baseball has finally arrived, and with it the hopes for every fan who last season said, “Wait ’til next year.”

Well, next year is here; even the Cubs still have a shot at winning the World Series.

There have been some major changes in the league, but some things have remained the same. The defending champions, the Florida Marlins, had a fire sale and either traded or released all their mega-dollar free agents such as Moises Alou and Kevin Brown.

Also, there are two new expansion teams in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

These teams will attempt to duplicate the performances of the their most recent expansion predecessors, the Colorado Rockies and the Florida Marlins, who have both been pennant contenders and have won great deal of success, both on the field and in the stands.

The Rockies have had record crowds filing in to watch the balls fly out in abundance in the thin air of Coors Field.

With expansion, though, the pitching pool will be that much shallower.

Young hurlers, who previously would have the luxury to mature a couple more seasons in the minors, are thrust out onto the mound to face big league hitters.

The last time an expansion occurred, the home run totals jumped nearly 25 percent. This is good news for the big boppers who will be in hot pursuit of Roger Maris’ single season record of 61 dingers. Most notably, Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey.

Both sluggers made legitimate runs at the elite mark last season, but fell a bit short, ending with 58 and 57 respectively.

McGwire, who his just 14 dingers away from 400 in his career, will be starting his first full season in the National League with the St. Louis Cardinals, and the press and fans are already asking him about the record. Both he and Griffey are trying to minimize the attention from themselves and the elusive mark.

As far as things staying the same, the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles will once again be at the top of their respective divisions.

Cal Ripken will also continue his consecutive game streak, which is now nearing 2400 games. He is truly one of the things that is right and pure about the game of baseball, as one of the main-stays on a squad in an era when players often hop from team to team.

Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs are both within reach of achieving 3,000 hits. Both need around 200 hits this season to do so, a feat both have done a number of times before.

In recent years, MLB has lost a lot of fans and a lot of attention.

Whether it is due to the player strikes, owner lock-outs, the slower manner in which the game is played — which does not attract the younger MTV generation — I don’t know, but baseball is the best sport in my book.

It’s great to go out on a summer afternoon or evening to watch a ball game in a stadium setting and actually break down all of the intricacies of what goes on between managers, the pitcher and hitter and base runners.

No, baseball probably isn’t as exciting as some other sports, but for those who understand and appreciate it, baseball is one of the great joys of summer.

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Scott Johnson is a senior in liberal studies from Holstien.