MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Thousands of Memphians spent their Easter Friday at the ballpark enjoying the food, tunes and a Memphis Redbirds 6-5 win over the Charlotte Knights on "Opening Day."
This year's event was a little extra special as they were celebrating the 25th anniversary season of Redbirds baseball at AutoZone Park.
"It's nerve-racking but also very very exciting just to come out here and play the game that we all love," Redbirds second baseman Thomas Saggese said.
Still, it's not just the players that love baseball. There were 4,201 fans that made their way to the ballpark to catch the action — some even waiting in line for more than two hours just to be the first through the gates.
Memphis native and Redbirds manager Ben Johnson gave Michael McGeevy the nod on Friday because of his consistency.
The right hander allowed only two runs and struck out two batters in five innings work.
"I thought he threw well," Johnson said. "He wasn't really just leaving balls over the plate getting hammered a couple balls dumped in there. I know he's happy with how he's going, and we are too."
The bats left much to be desired though, until a five-run 6th inning started by a Luken Baker blast into left field.
"It was fun to see Luken pick us up right there," Johnson said. "We saw a lot of that last year, so it was good to see it today."
Two batters are Baker, right fielder Moises Gomez drilled his first homer of the year to bring the score to just a one run game.
Later in the inning, second baseman Jose Fermin gave Memphis its first run of the game with a two run double.
Prior to the sixth inning, the Redbirds bats had just one run on three hits.
If you missed any of the action on Friday you can still see the Redbirds this weekend. They play on both Saturday and Sunday against the Knights with first pitch at 1.05 p.m.