Opening Day: Fuss is forgotten as first ball is thrown

(By Scott Sexton; Winston-Salem Journal) - Years of acrimony and frustration floated away like so much pollen in the breeze yesterday as the long-awaited, much-anticipated and very-expensive BB&T Ballpark opened to paying customers.

Scores of curious downtown workers and assorted others poured out of a variety of offices and places of business for an afternoon pep rally to officially ring in the 2010 minor-league baseball season and eat free hot dogs. The festive atmosphere continued into the evening as thousands more flooded the area to see just what all the fuss was over.

It's about time. Has it really been four years since Winston-Salem Dash owner Billy Prim unveiled plans for the park?

All the rah-rah speeches by boosters telling us how good the stadium will be for Winston-Salem -- as well as their hat-in-hand performances of 2009 when we learned that the city could either cough up another $15.7 million on top of its initial $12 million or the deal would go belly up -- well, none of that mattered much yesterday.

Not even a laughable, last minute screw-up involving a blown health inspection that momentarily threatened to derail hot-dog sales could dampen enthusiasm.

Opening Day had arrived. Play ball.