Dodgers Open 2011 Aggressively

3:15 p.m., and I'm about to set foot once again on hallowed baseball ground: the venerable Dodger Stadium. In two hours, the Dodgers and Giants would be underway in the inaugural game of the 2011 season. Academy Road is lined with parked cars, tailgaters fill the parks, and alcohol abounds. The shadows from the late evening sun creep onto the freshly cut stadium grass, to be broken in for the first time in honor of a new season.

4:40 p.m., and we meet the rosters for both teams. The most massive American flag you will ever see is unveiled as a singing legend belts the notes of the National Anthem. Cheers erupt as a stealth bomber passes by overhead, and as a sell-out crowd hears the infamous pregame words of an infamous broadcaster, perhaps for the last time on an Opening Day.

And Opening Day this was, featuring the dreamy pitching matchup of Tim Lincecum and Clayton Kershaw, adding a new chapter into the book chronicling the Dodgers/Giants storied rivalry, casting the game of baseball in a glorious spectacle for all to see on national television. After all, isn't this how we're supposed to celebrate our beloved sport?

Tonight, it was the hometown Dodgers who were doing the celebrating, following a gritty 2-1 victory over the hated Giants. The game lived up to all expectations, and then some, with both starters turning in tremendous performances and every pitch mattering until the last fastball from Jonathan Broxton at 7:55 p.m. The Dodgers, with first-year manager Don Mattingly at the helm, showed a different side to themselves tonight, a side that brings hope and promise to what many believe will be another average season. It was an aggressive side that lifted the Dodgers to victory tonight, from the batters box to the basepaths. Good pitches from Lincecum early in the count were hacked at. Errors on singles were taken advantage of. An important base was stolen in the 8th. And Kershaw wasn't doing his usual dance around hitters. This was the most aggressive the Dodgers have looked in a long time, and they are a better team just because of that alone.

Still, there were some carry-overs from last season. An abysmal 1-11 with runners in scoring position prevented the Dodgers from breaking the game open. Rafael Furcal looked sluggish at the plate. Jonathan Broxton surrendered another home run to a right-handed hitter. Certainly, these are trends that have plagued the Dodgers in seasons past, and will hold them back again in 2011 if tonight is not an anomaly. I suppose with any Opening Day, one finds good and bad in a team's performance, but I was encouraged by what I saw tonight at Dodger Stadium. I saw a team with fight and resolve, and with confidence. Intangibles such as these are what will carry this team this year. That and Matt Kemp stepping up the way he did tonight. So far, so good.