Daily Herald opinion: Nobody does it better: Opening Day is here and so is hope

After a long, cold winter, our baseball teams are migrating back north for Opening Day on Thursday.

The Cubs open at home Thursday, hosting the Washington Nationals.

At the same time, the White Sox will open their season at Milwaukee’s American Family Field against the Brewers, the same field where the Cubs’ 2025 campaign ended.

No other sport does Opening Day as well as baseball.

For Cubs and White Sox fans, Opening Day brings hope and promise. It is the start of the 162-game marathon where anything is possible.

Everyone starts with a clean slate.

A White Sox fan can dream: young players like Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel continue to grow, and the long rebuild — including three straight 100-loss seasons — could finally be in the rearview mirror.

Will Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami take to the South Side as Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki have done on the North Side?

Can manager Will Venable take all those pieces and build a team that is in the postseason conversation at the trade deadline?

We hope that come August, Sox fans are talking more about the young nucleus of players Sox GM Chris Getz has assembled than the Campfire Milkshake 2.0.

While the White Sox look to build on youth and potential, the hopes and dreams are even bigger at Wrigley Field.

After advancing to the National League Divisional Series last year and losing in heartbreaking fashion to those hated Milwaukee Brewers, the Cubs and their fans are dreaming about another World Series title.

Maybe new Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman, a proven winner with the Houston Astros, is the player who pushes the North Siders to the top of the National League Central and over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Can pitcher Cade Horton build off his electric rookie season and challenge for the Cy Young? Will Edward Cabrera go from a good player with great potential to a star pitcher?

We hope Cubs fans are looking ahead to who they’ll face in the postseason as October approaches.

As we look ahead now, it’s worth remembering that a baseball season is, as we said earlier, a marathon, not a sprint. There will be highs and lows, with walk-off homers and blown saves. Hopefully, more winning streaks than losing ones.

Baseball is back, and for Cubs and White Sox supporters, Opening Day is a chance to dream about what these teams can achieve and leave past seasons behind.