To Dave Roberts, Thursday afternoon felt nostalgically, longingly, thankfully familiar.
The afternoon start time. The red, white and blue bunting. Even the traffic clogging up Vin Scully Avenue on the first of his 80 commutes, at least, into Chavez Ravine this year.
“You feel the buzz,” said Roberts, entering his ninth year as Dodgers manager. “Nothing like opening day here at Dodger Stadium.”
This year, especially.
After a historic $1.4 billion offseason spree, a winter of mounting fan base anticipation, a spring camp of tantalizing flashes from a star-studded lineup, and … a confounding theft and gambling scandal surrounding Shohei Ohtani and his ex-interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara … Roberts and the Dodgers were more than ready to plunge into the regular season.