You can see all the opening day impressions here.

Bill of the Detroit Tigers Weblog sends his comments on watching the first place Tigers in their home opener:

People always care about Opening Day in Detroit. It is an unofficial holiday in an around the city of Detroit. People play hooky from work and school, and start drinking very early in the morning-much like St. Patty's day. Fueled by a 3-0 start this year, the opener wasn't just about the peripheral festivities (drinking). The baseball game on the field actually took on more importance than any of the 7 previous openers I'd attended.

For my friends and I, the day started at a diner at 8:30 in the morning. We fueled up on omelettes, waffles, and coffee before heading down to Detroit.

Our favorite pre-game hang-out is a bar named Casey's. Casey's is located a couple blocks from the old Tiger Stadium. The bar is small and has been there for years. Legend has it that Lou Gherig came to the bar after the first game he missed in 1939. I don't know if the legend is true, of if the bar was even called Casey's back then, but one look around and it certainly seems plausible.

We spent several hours at Casey's taking in several pitchers. We excitedly discussed the possibilities for the Tigers this season, and how we actually expected the Tigers to beat an injured Twins team. We toasted, "Here's to the Tigers being undefeated, and this not being the first game of the year."

Shortly after noon we trekked down to another bar, Nemo's that operates a shuttle to and from Comerica. We reached Comerica about 12:45 and the place was already buzzing. With an hour until game time, we headed over to the Tigers beer hall to grab pulled pork sandwiches and more beer before heading up to our seats. This year, my friends and I sprung for a 21 game season ticket package, and we were anxious to see what our seats would be like for the year. Our seats are in the second row of the upper deck along the third base line. One of my main gripes with Comerica is that the upper deck is so far away from the field. However, these seats don't seem too bad. One of the main reasons for getting the season tickets was so that we could have access to 2005 All Star Game tickets. Now we're whispering about how if the Tigers make the playoffs, we'd have priority for those tickets as well. We're all aware this is only the first week of the season, but it's so nice to be working on a winning streak instead of a losing streak.

The National Anthem and a flyover by a pair of F-16's meant that it is game time. With the temperature in the mid 50's, no precipitation, and the no biting wind it is a pleasantly warm day. The late arriving crowd is still pretty sparse, but enthusiastic.

That enthusiasm was supressed when the Twins put up runs in the first two innings and took a 3-0 lead while the Tigers could only manage a single by Carlos Guillen. Skeptical fans were starting to voice concerns about the "same old Tigers." Fortunately Nate Cornejo settled down and only allowed two baserunners through the next 4 innings.

Then in the 6th inning, the "new and improved Tigers" came to life. Alex Sanchez improbably hit a homer, and then the Tigers strung together several more hits to take a 4-3 lead. The scoring was capped by double to the right-center gap by the much maligned Bobby Higginson. Last year an early 3-run deficit would have spelled doom for the Tigers. This year, anything doesn't seem insurmountable.

Unfortunately the lead was short lived as Cornejo gave up a solo homer to Jacque Jones that tied the game.

In the 7th inning, the stands were still surprsingly full. Normally half the fans have headed back to the bars at this point. I don't know if it was the fact that the Tigers are better, or if the weather was warmer, but people were staying-and they'd be glad they did. After two quick outs the Tigers drew 3 straight walks. A wild pitch scored the go-ahead run and Comerica was rocking. The Tigers then piled on 3 more hits which scored an additional 4 runs putting the game out of reach. The scoring was capped once again by a Bobby Higginson shot into the right centerfield gap. The inning ended when Craig Monroe to Jacque Jones to the warning track in straightaway centerfield which is no small feat.

Higginson, who has been the target of a lot of negative feelings due to his large contract and lack of performance the last few years received a standing ovation and chants of "Bobby" as he resumed his position in rightfield.

Eric Munson hit his second homer of the year, and the Twins managed to pick up a couple of runs on a 2-run homer. With two outs in the ninth the remaining crowd came to their feet to urge on Steve Colyer and the Tigers. As strike three was called, the crowd roared and for second consecutive home game (the last being the last game of 2003) the Tigers came off the field to a standing ovation.

It was a great day for the Tigers, and a great day for the fans. While the season is only 4 games old, at least they are 4 wins. I don't know if this Tiger team will be good or not this year, or if this is just a 4 game win streak. However, for a franchise that has started so poorly the last few years, this streak is awakening a baseball city that has been dormant for too long.

It's good to see the fans in Detroit have something to cheer about this year.