Cardinals leadoff man Matt Carpenter walked up to the plate, shook hands with the umpire, greeted the Pittsburgh catcher and got comfortable in the batter’s box.
Just like that, fans everywhere settled in for a fresh new season.
“Opening Day, for me, is sort of like Christmas,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said at the Toronto-Tampa Bay game. “It’s one of the most exciting days of the year.”
A World Series rematch in Kansas City and a meeting of NL playoff teams sweetened Sunday’s schedule.
It was 39 degrees at PNC Park when Pirates lefty Francisco Liriano threw the first pitch of the season. Hours earlier, the grounds crew cleared ice off the tarp after snow flurries fell.
Liriano did just fine: six shutout innings, 10 strikeouts and an RBI single for the first run of 2016 in a 4-1 win over St. Louis. Pirates newcomer David Freese did well, too, getting the first hit of the season.
All-Star Chris Archer had no weather worries when he started for the Rays under the dome at Tropicana Field. His bigger concern was the Blue Jays, the highest-scoring in the big leagues last season, Toronto got a two-run single in the first inning from Edwin Encarnacion and went on to win, 5-3. Troy Tulowitzki hit the majors’ first home run of the year.
In Kansas City, it was 74 degrees under a setting sun when the champion Royals hosted the team they beat last October, the New York Mets.
The parking lots at Kauffman Stadium were jammed with tailgaters long before the first pitch, and Royals rooters roared when the World Series flag was raised in right field.
“It’s a fun day to be part of,” Kansas City first baseman Eric Hosmer said, adding, “but once it’s over it is, ‘OK, time to get back into the routine.’”
Matt Harvey started for the Mets vs. Edinson Volquez. They faced each other on the final day of 2015, in Game 5 at Citi Field, where the Royals rallied to win the crown. Volquez took the mound wearing a different hat than his teammates, the spring training version with a gold crown over the KC logo.
But everything else went according to plan for the Royals, who picked up where they left off in November by beating Harvey and the Mets 4-3 in the first opening-day rematch of a World Series.
With runners at the corners in the ninth inning, All-Star closer Wade Davis struck out David Wright and Yoenis Cespedes to preserve the victory.
Fans in Kansas City saw something new, too. There’s extra netting behind the plate to protect crowds from foul balls, a recommendation MLB made to all teams during the offseason.
Most every other club starts up Monday. The Tigers and Marlins are the last to open, on Tuesday at Marlins Park.
David Ortiz begins his farewell tour when the Red Sox play at Cleveland in the Boston debut of high-priced ace David Price. Big Papi and Price took it easy Sunday, going across the street from Progressive Field to watch LeBron James and the Cavaliers take on Charlotte.
Plenty of top pitchers were on tap to start Monday, with Zack Greinke, Dallas Keuchel, Clayton Kershaw and Felix Hernandez among them.
NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta starts Monday night as the popular and talented Chicago Cubs visit the Los Angeles Angels.
“If you factor in everything – experience, talent level, the motivation of the group – they want to become a part of the first team that wins a World Series for the Cubs in a long, long time,” Chicago manager Joe Maddon said. “So there’s so many good things that can repel pressure and expectations.”
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
SPECS
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Teams
India (playing XI): Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami
South Africa (squad): Faf du Plessis (c), Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million