MLB Opening Day memories were thinking o

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Hey look, it's Thursday, March 26. This was supposed to be Major League Baseball's Opening Day for the 2020 season. Unfortunately, due to the spread of the coronavirus, that date won't be happening any time soon. But we still wanted to recognize would-be-Opening Day by taking a trip down memory lane. What is your favorite opening day memory? I'll start. It's an easy one for me. Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes was sent to the just before the 1993 trade deadline as part of a three-team trade that sent reliever Paul A senmacher to the . Rhodes hit .288/.413/.538 in his 15 big-league games for the Cubs and that -- along with spring training -- convinced them to use him as the leadoff man in the 1994 opener against Dwight Gooden and the . Rhodes would hit three home runs. I now think it makes the memory even better because this was the pinnacle of his career. His final line in 95 games that Minnesota Timberwolves Jeresy season was .234/.318/.387 with just eight home runs. He only got 45 more MLB plate appearances. He did end up hitting 464 homers in Japan's NPB, though. To this day, I'll never forget watching that gem of an Opening Day. We reached out to some other CBS Sports staff members for their favorite Opening Day memories. Here's what they had to say.R.J. Anderson, MLB writer: The one that jumps to mind for me is the Yankees-Rays opener in 2012. Carlos Pena had returned to Tampa Bay over the winter, and he reintroduced himself to St. Petersburg with a huge afternoon. He hit a grand slam in his first at-bat (after the Yankees had intentionally walked to load the bases) and delivered a walk-off, two-strike hit against Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth. Pena had a disappointing season otherwise, but for one afternoon, he received a hero's welcome back to the franchise that I a sociate Karl-Anthony Towns Jersey him with. Dayn Perry, MLB writer: We didn't know what it would lead to at the time, but Mark McGwire's Opening Day grand slam in 1998 stands out. That is of course the year in which he and Sammy Sosa dueled for the single-season home run record, which McGwire eventually broke. PED revelations since then have sullied the season for some, but in the moment it was an incredible chase to follow. That Opening Day granny started it all. Scott White, fantasy baseball writer:The first time I had the wherewithal to watch my Braves on opening day was 1995, fresh off the strike. I had just turned 11 and was still pretty new to baseball thing. My fervor could have been dampened still, I suppose. But they had me at hello, opening with six straight hits off the Giants' Terry Mulholland -- including one by rookie Chipper Jones. They won the game 12-5 and my heart forever.Chris Towers, fantasy sports editor:One of the things you have to get used to in this job is being wrong, often loudly and publicly, and Opening Day 2009 for the Marlins gave me some good practice. I loudly told anyone who would listen at the time that the Marlins were making a ma sive mistake in handing the lead off role on a playoff contender to the newly acquired Emilio Bonifacio, so of course Bonifacio went Ashton Hagans Jersey out and led off the game with a single, a steal, and a score in the first inning. He would go on to collect three more hits, two more steals, and an inside the park home run in one of the most unexpected and thrilling Opening Day performances I've ever seen. It was good practice for being loudly wrong a lot more in the future. Thanks, Emilio!Tom Fornelli, writer:For me, it's not so much a specific Opening Day that stands out. I've never gone to an Opening Day game, partially because I prefer a quieter, emptier stadium, but mostly because I want to watch as much baseball as I can on that first day. So it's not a specific day I care about -- though I do remember feeling very good about the after they shut out Cleveland 1-0 to open the 2005 season -- but rather the ritual of having baseball back in my daily life. A friend of mine refers to baseball as "the summer companion," and that's what it e sentially is: A friend you enjoy seeing every day for six months. Opening Day is more about having that friend back in my life than anything else. Barrett Salee, college football writer:I have been an fan since I was born. In fact, on June 21, 1982, my parents and I were featured on the front page of the in a 3/4-page picture -- presumably because we were three of about 2,000 people who were at the Braves game the night before (they went on to win the division later that year). The Opening Day moment that I will remember more than any other isn't one during the amazing 14-year run of division titles, though. Jarred Vanderbilt Jersey On April 5, 2010, a young minor-league phenom named stepped to the plate in what was one of the most anticipated MLB debuts in Braves history. On his first swing, he hit a mammoth three-run home run against the Chicago Cubs that landed about 100 feet in front of me. I've been at some of the best, most dramatic and loudest college football games in the sport's history. The sound of the crowd and shaking of Turner Field rivaled that of Alabama's walk-off win in the national title game over Georgia and Auburn's Kick Six win over the Crimson Tide. Heyward's career with the Braves didn't match the hype -- which surged following his first at-bat -- but it doesn't matter. I'll never forget the buzz before, during and after his first swing in the big leagues. Pete Blackburn, trending writer:I don't have too many specific game-related Opening Day memories, but I do have a time-honored tradition that I love to carry out each year. Every Opening Day I make it a point to have two hot dogs and a beer for lunch as I sit down to watch some day baseball. Sometimes it actually comes at the ballpark, sometimes it comes on the couch or at my desk. But for me, that tradition is something that I cherish Isaiah Rider Jr. Jersey every year because it helps me dive head-first into the season. And just like cake always tastes better on your birthday, the hot dogs always taste a little better on Opening Day.Shanna McCarriston, trending writer:My sixth foot surgery was scheduled close to Opening Day in 2019, but when I watched the Red Sox win the World Series as an employee of the team all that year and the year before, with a championship ring of my own all the way, I wasn't mi sing the ceremony. I moved the surgery back slightly, meaning I was still in rough shape come game day, not able to walk, on lots of medication and in a ton of pain. But at least I could go, because like I said I wasn't mi sing this. Watching the 2018 banner drop with coworkers, who became more like family, in Fenway Park, which felt more like home than my office, I was in awe to even have a small part in it. Covered in blankets to try to keep my foot warm on the cold Boston day, with my dad pushing my wheelchair around the park, I reflected on a season I will alway