Opening Day has become a big production these days — television coverage, ceremonies, hype, social media countdowns, and enough hoopla to make it feel like a national holiday. But when I think about Opening Day, my mind doesn’t go to the noise and spectacle. It goes back to a chilly afternoon in 1973 at Royals Stadium.
I was there.
Opening Day at Royals Stadium. Box seats. Kansas City Royals baseball. And a memory that still feels warm, even though the day itself was anything but.
I went with my friend Tim Flavin. The Flavin family was always very good to the Sturgills during some tough spells in life, and that kindness is something you never forget. It wasn’t just a baseball game — it was an act of generosity and friendship that stuck with me over the years.
My grandparents, John and Irene Medellin, pulled Tim and me out of school early that day so we would have plenty of time to “properly prepare” for Opening Day. And by preparation, they meant doing it the right way — getting there early enough to watch every single pitch of batting practice.
No rushing. No distractions. Just baseball.
Grandma Irene sat there with her scorecard, diligently filling in every detail as if she were documenting history in real time. Pitch by pitch, name by name, inning by inning. That scorecard wasn’t just a record of a game — it was a record of a moment.
Somewhere along the way, we even picked up a lenticular print of Royals Stadium, one of those souvenirs that seemed almost magical at the time. Tilt it one way, and you see one view. Tilt it another way and it changed. For a kid in 1973, that was high-tech.
It was cold that day. Really cold. The kind of cold that sneaks through your jacket and reminds you that baseball season sometimes arrives before spring fully does. But nobody cared. Because it was Opening Day.
The Game That Made (Royal Stadium) History
The opening game at Royals Stadium on April 10, 1973, featured:
Kansas City Royals vs. Texas Rangers
Final Score: Royals 12, Rangers 1
Winning pitcher: Paul Splittorff (complete game)
Attendance: 39,464 fans
Start time: 7:39 PM (night game)
Notable firsts from that game:
First hit: Amos Otis
First run: Freddie Patek
First RBI: John Mayberry
First home run: John Mayberry
The Royals came out swinging and pretty much put the game away in their first at-bats. By the early innings, you had the sense that this was going to be a long afternoon for Texas and a great day for Kansas City. Back then, the Royals were a winning machine. Strong pitching, solid hitting, disciplined baseball — the kind of team that made you expect victory rather than hope for it.
What I remember most, though, isn’t just the score or the cold or even the early lead. It’s the feeling.
The excitement of leaving school early. The kindness of the Flavin family. The steady presence of my grandparents. Grandma was keeping score like it was her job. Watching batting practice like it was part of a sacred ritual. Sitting in those box seats and realizing this was something special. That was Opening Day.
No giant spectacle. No national media frenzy. Just baseball, family, friendship, and a chilly afternoon that turned into a lifelong memory.
Today, St. Louis treats Opening Day like a civic holiday, and honestly, I love that. The energy, the tradition, the celebration — it’s part of what makes baseball great. A part of me still prefers the simplicity of 1973.
A cold day. A scorecard. A lenticular stadium card. A winning team. Good friends. Great grandparents. The feeling that you were exactly where you were supposed to be. Sometimes the greatest Opening Days aren’t the loudest ones. They’re the ones that quietly stay with you for the rest of your life.
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