Check out the Prezi above before or after reading the article for more fun facts about Opening Day.

Baseball is as American as apple pie, but it’s still unclear if it deserves its own national holiday.

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St. Louis Cardinal great Ozzie Smith and Budweiser have started a petition to make the Opening Day of baseball season a day people all over the country celebrate.

It has gotten responses from both sides of the argument. Sports fans love the idea but people who do not have the sports bug do not.

In a phone interview with ESPN, Smith said the city of St. Louis already celebrates Opening Day and Smith also made a James Stewart reference.

“Coming from St. Louis, of course being such a baseball town, it’s sort of an unofficial holiday, Opening Day, so they thought it would be a good idea for Mr. Smith to just take a trip to Washington,” Smith said.

Former New York Yankee and MLB Hall of Fame member Joe DiMaggio said it doesn’t matter if it’s your first Opening Day or 20^th, it’s still a treat.

“You always get a special kick on Opening Day, no matter how many you go through. You look forward to it like a birthday party when you’re a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen,” DiMaggio said.

Former Kansas City Royal George Brett agreed with DiMaggio.

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“There’s nothing like Opening Day. There’s nothing like the start of a new season. I started playing baseball when I was seven years old and quit playing when I was 40, so it’s kind of in my blood,” Brett said.

Opening Day doesn’t need to be a national holiday. Yes, it would be nice but certain cities could make it a holiday in their city. Some schools in southern Illinois have made the opening day of deer season a holiday and closed the school. I know a school isn’t the same thing as a city bit I digress.

Baseball is America’s pastime. I can remember growing up and all I wanted to do was play catch in the backyard with my dad. It’s the part of a young persons childhood that we all remember.

Some fans always have a comedic view of opening day. Rob Sheffield, a journalist from Rolling Stone, said stats some fans would never want to see.

“Baseball’s Opening Day is full of time-honored traditions: the President throws out the first ball, the Cubs’ starting pitcher walks away with a 54.00 ERA, the Royals get mathematically eliminated from the pennant race,” Sheffield said.

I’ve had the opportunity to go to Opening Day and it is an incredible experience.  I’ve been to All-Star Games, the World Series and several other games that people remember. These games are impossible to compare to Opening Day because they are different scenarios.

However the best game I have ever been to was game six of the World Series. If anything deserves to be a national holiday, it is that game.