The first sign that things might not go smoothly for the Winnipeg Goldeyes on Opening Day was the absence of P.A. man Ron Arnst. From there things gradually unravelled into a night of unfulfilled promise.
Goldeyes have grown up
The Goldeyes weren't bad but something seemed amiss all night and it wasn't just the booming baritone of big Ron. The offence misfired when it had chances to put runs on the board and starting pitcher Ronald Bay was prone to the big mistake. All this added up to a 3-2 win for the visiting Kansas City T-Bones before an announced house of 6,232 customers at Canwest Park. Not a terrible defeat but not the cherry on top a win would have been on the first night of baseball in Winnipeg this summer.
There were 6,232 fans on hand for Winnipeg's first real game of the season, but these five Fish fans were grinning the widest. Ethan (from left), Aaron and Nicolas Unger, all brothers, and Matthew Martin and Dustyn Wood have a Goldie moment with the team mascot. It was the first of seven straight home games for the Goldeyes, so there's plenty of opportunity to get your Fish fix.
Pregame introductions and post-game fireworks are nice but nothing sends them home with a smile like a win. Arnst, a major component of the Goldeyes' game production, came down ill and director of communications Jonathan Green was forced to fill in. Green did a nice job but Arnst is as much a part of Goldeyes baseball as shortstop Max Poulin.
It didn't seem like Opening Day without his voice supplying the background details.
Manager Rick Forney was forced to take his club indoors on a number of occasions during the club's two-week spring training and the theory that there'd still be a little rust in Winnipeg's game had some legs on this night. The defence was fine but the bats seemed a touch slow and Bay made the wrong pitch at the wrong time to T-Bones catcher Craig Hurba, who drilled a two-run bomb to give K.C. starter Anthony Boughner an early lead that he was able to retain with some help from his bullpen.
Forney made the point on Wednesday during his club's last pre-season workout that the lack of prep time would not be used as an excuse. The manager has seen his club struggle out of the gate the last two seasons and need final-week surges plus help from elsewhere to earn wild card berths to reach the playoffs.
The third year skip wants no part of a similar scenario this year.
"The last couple weeks of the season have been pretty rough on me the last two years. My forehead has gotten a little bigger and some grey has snuck in on the sides and the last two Augusts have had a lot to do with that," said Forney. "To me, the first game of the season has the same importance as the last game of the season. The last two or three weeks of the season, you can find yourself in a situation where you're counting games and you can't get these games back. I made sure my team understood how I felt about this weekend and let's treat it like we're in playoff mode already."
Perhaps it's a little early for playoff style angst but the Goldeyes will need to find their legs quickly or suffer the consequence of an early-season slump. Forney doesn't want any part of nailbiting his way through late August nights and with 95 games to go there's lots of time for ups and downs.
gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca
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