If I were a fan of the Oakland Athletics or Seattle Mariners (quite the contrary as a Los Angeles Angels fan), I would be upset at Major League Baseball.
In two games that no one in the United States seemed to know about, the league once again decided to officially start its season overseas in Japan. Many have defended and even lauded the decision by MLB, but it's a bad idea to begin the first meaningful games for any team in America's pastime overseas.
Some have argued that the fanfare in Japan was huge, and that the small number of fans that would come to Oakland don't do opening day justice. Others have said that Japan is such a large part of the global baseball market and that the league needs to reach out.
Those arguments are disingenuous. Effectively, MLB is saying there aren't enough fans to fill the O.com coliseum in Oakland, so they don't deserve to see their team play the first home game that matters. Fans in Seattle and Oakland had to wake up at the early hours of the morning if they wanted to see their teams play live on opening day.
To me, that goes against everything that's right about baseball, where the game is synonymous with American sports. Opening day is almost a national holiday, and fans shouldn't have to experience it outside the confines of the country at ridiculous hours.
It's understandable, though, that league officials want to globalize the game and expand its reach as far around the world as possible. Popularization of major U.S. sports leagues are a good thing for the economy.
That's why it makes sense to have regular season games outside of the country on a consistent basis. In fact, it's a great idea. In a season that's already much too long, there are plenty of games to spare. However, opening day should be reserved for the fans who always come first - those that support the team in its home city.
Even though I wish many losses on both the A's and Mariners, their fans don't deserve this treatment.
Michael C. Jones is a Yahoo! Featured Contributor in Sports and a die-hard Los Angeles Angels fan who remembers going to the "Big A" as a kid, yearning for Chili Davis' autograph.
Follow Michael on Twitter: @MikeJonesTweets
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