Opening day, to be cliche, is a time of rebirth- winter makes way to spring- or if you live in LA, freezing winter temperatures of 65 give way to much warmer temps of 70.

Baseball is all about history- not only looking forward but looking back. It is also a game of superstitions. Wear the wrong t-shirt on the wrong day and you can doom your team to 86 years of futility.

Being a Red Sox fan I am as guilty as anyone of having my special opening day routine which involves 2 things. Buying a new Red Sox hat each year. And watching the game with my cat Milo. Last year I doomed the Red Sox by buying a bad hat. And for that I apologize to Red Sox nation. The hat felt right at the time, but from game 1 it was obvious it wasn’t going to work.

That being said, I would do anything for it to be 2011 again and to be buying that same hat. Even though game 1 was a precursor to a very odd up and down season ending in a horrible down, I was able to watch the game with my cat Milo.

For 15 years Milo would watch Red Sox games with me, lovingly sitting on my lap or lying on my stomach until I would disturb his peace by jumping up and screaming at a Red Sox home run or jumping up and screaming during a dumb managerial move. He’d wait til I was done, give me a sneer and all 22 lbs of him would jump back on my stomach.

Milo sadly passed away in June of 2011. The last thing we did together was watch a Red Sox Yankees game on the TV the day before he passed away.

Milo was my best friend,  he saw me thru many lonely days…er months… fine… YEARS of being alone and single in LA and thru many crappy baseball seasons. When the summer gave way to fall and fall gave way to a winter, Milo was still there lying on top of me, keeping me warm til spring came around again til I jumped up off the couch to cheer on a Red Sox home run.

So while I celebrate the arrival of spring and another season of Red Sox baseball- it isn’t quite the same this year.

Milo opening day 2011