Baseball fans were left with ‘goosebumps’ after a stirring rendition of the national anthem on MLB opening night.
The New York Yankees traveled to the San Francisco Giants to raise the curtain on the new season and retired US serviceman Generald Wilson was given the honor of singing The Star-Spangled Banner ahead of the game.
His performance drew praise from supporters, one of whom asked: ‘Was that the greatest national anthem of all time?’
Another called it the ‘best anthem in years,’ adding that the rendition gave them ‘goosebumps,’ while one fan wrote on social media: ‘Straight chills. Best way to start the 2026 season!’
The performance ended with a military flyover and included a drone pyrotechnic show that saw the American flag appear in the sky above Oracle Park.
‘Guy KILLED the National Anthem. Wow! What a powerful voice. Beautifully done!’ one fan said. ‘The American flag drone display was pretty awesome too.’
Baseball fans were left with ‘goosebumps’ after a stirring rendition of the national anthem
A drone pyrotechnic smoke display forms the American flag during the national anthem
The New York Yankees traveled to the San Francisco Giants for the season-opening game
The praise for Wilson was in stark contrast to the reaction to the coverage of Wednesday night’s opener on Netflix.
‘Netflix broadcasting a baseball game to the whole country in an absurd marketing stunt at the start of the MLB season,’ one critic wrote on X.
The streaming service’s exclusive coverage of MLB’s opener was used to promote several shows, including another season of Netflix’s Addams Family spinoff, Wednesday.
‘It was a bad decision to put the mlb opener on netflix,’ another added. ‘[For] the first time in thirty years I [don’t] get to see opening day. thanks guys.’
Like NFL and NBA fans, who have been pressed to add other subscription streaming services on top of expensive cable plans, baseball devotees were unhappy at the prospect of another monthly bill.
Many simply refused to watch rather than pay for plans ranging from $7.99 to $24.99 per billing cycle.
‘Looking forward to NOT being able to watch my Giants play the Yanks on opening day tonight thanks to Netflix, despite paying the annual fee for the baseball app,’ one fan wrote on X, referring to MLB.TV’s $29.99 monthly plan.
‘MLB is just as bad as football. Gotta have like 4 diff streaming services if you wanna actually see all games.’
