New season brings new faith, potential

It's morning, sun slowly coming up over San Diego and already movement has begun at Petco Park this Monday morning.

Some employees have already made their way in, looking over last minute preparations, make sure everything is where it should be, making sure the ball park is ready. The grounds crew will make their final checks of the field, raking the field, checking for any hard packed dirt and making sure the grass is cut just so. It's Opening Day 2008, the baseball season has returned.

Players are slowly waking up, cooking breakfast for their families, taking their kids to school, but there's an unfamiliar feeling in the pit of their stomachs, something they haven't felt since early October. It's the nervous feeling right before a ball game, they know it's time to put the 2007 season and all they've learned during spring training behind them. They know, at 7:05pm PST, the marathon to a 162 game season begins on March 31st, 2008.

In just a few short hours, the already bustling streets of downtown, packed with business men and women walking or driving to work, with be crowded with cars taking Padre fans to Petco Park. The restaurants just opening this morning know what's in store for later today. Fans that couldn't get tickets for Opening Day, will crowd their floors and tables, their eyes glued on their team.

The San Diego Padres will open their season tonight against the Houston Astros. Jake Peavy will get the start for San Diego, while the Astros will counter with Roy Oswalt who, oddly enough, is not only a very close friend of Peavy's but is staying at the Peavy home during this 4-game series.

It's the start of a new season, new faith in the team we've all come to love, new potential for this team to go deep into October and a new found belief that this year, will be the year.