Reno Aces Front Office Share Favorite Opening Day Memories

Opening Day marks the start of a season for every team and is an event that baseball fans have circled on their calendar every year. Each member of the Reno Aces’ leadership team has their own favorite Opening Day memories that have taken place at Yankee Stadium, the backyard and even a parking lot.

Mike Murray, Chief Commercial Officer:

“Every year on Opening Day, I’d wait for my Dad to come home from work and we’d go in the backyard and play catch just to celebrate the hope of a new year. I grew up west of Chicago and my Dad knew how much I loved the Chicago Cubs, so he’d always pretend he was the White Sox and we’d always play against each other (he’d always let me win). After catch, we’d go inside, and my Dad would get us a complete set of baseball cards, so we’d go through and spend time together opening cards. The hope of a new year and a new season always leads to some togetherness in my family.”

Eric Edelstein, President:

“Two opening days that stick out most to me are both as a kid. I can distinctly remember the first time that I skipped school when I was growing up in Cleveland. We had a bus transit system that came out near my house and I can remember me and some buddies heading downtown for the first time as kids and going to Opening Day at Cleveland Stadium.”

Edelstein was also in attendance for the inaugural game at Jacobs Field.

“It was only a few years later that Jacobs Field opened and I can distinctly remember being at the first game ever at the new ballpark. I’m a baseball nerd and I was intent to have an authentic jersey with a name and number printed on it for Opening Day. In the 1990s, that wasn’t the easiest thing to do. I had to not only get the jersey, but I connected with the company who put names and numbers on the jerseys. I believe I was the only person in the stands that day that was wearing an authentic name and number jersey at the first game ever at Jacobs Field.”

In his first season as general manager of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, Edelstein’s memorable Opening Day moment occurred in the parking lot of Arvest Ballpark.

“I actually missed the first pitch of my new team and our new stadium because it was such a bad parking nightmare getting people in that I was actually in the parking lot when we delivered our first pitch as a franchise. This will be my eighth opening day in nine years without the Covid-cancelled season and every single Opening Day are memorable because they’re the start of something and some years become more memorable as you go, but they all start with that optimism. The best part of Opening Day is that we’re all optimistic at that point.”

Chris Phillips, Chief Operating Officer:

“I grew up in New Jersey, and the story of my childhood was that I was being born during game three of the 1978 World Series and my Dad opted to be waiting room watching the game instead of watching the delivery. My first real memory of Opening Day was my seventh birthday going to a Yankees game so that’s always been a special memory between my Dad and I.”

In 2019, Phillips ran point on the team rebrand from the Colorado Springs Sky Sox to the Rocky Mountain Vibes and will never forget Opening Day in 2019.

“Career wise, it was 2019 when we rebranded the Colorado Sky Sox to the Rocky Mountain Vibes which was my baby because I pushed for the rebrand. To see that whole idea come to fruition after changing a brand that was around for 25 years was amazing. We had a great crowd and we wound averaging a per game attendance as a Single-A team higher than the previous season when Colorado Springs was a Triple-A team.

Stacey Bowman, Chief Financial Officer:

“My best memory of Opening Day was in 2021 after the canceled season. After such a long time with no baseball, I felt like all my senses were ready to take it in. The grass was greener; the food smelled better; the crack of the bat was louder. Most of all, the fans’ smiles were wider than ever. With such a long delay of not having baseball, it was just so much more noticeable.”

The final scores and pitchers of record may be forgotten, but everyone remembers the sights and sounds of Opening Day.