MLB: Spring Training-New York Yankees at Philadelphia Phillies

New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla. on March 6, 2016. (Kim Klement | USA TODAY Sports)

TAMPA -- Opening Day is one of 162 regular season baseball games, so mathematically, it's impossible to argue that that day matters more than any other.

But...does it?

This is baseball, after all, where logic and emotion don't often coexist peacefully. There's more to the game than numbers and science, some argue, while others waive that off as pageantry.

And perhaps there's no better meeting of these competing views than the first game of the year, particularly in regards to which pitcher is taking the mound.

The Opening Day starter, whenever it's announced, makes news every time, for every team. Fans cheer or jeer, talk radio ablaze for a day or three.

Last year, for instance, when the Mets sent a rotund 41-year-old Bartolo Colon to the mound for Game 1, fans weren't exactly thrilled. But the Mets went to the World Series last year, so should we chalk that one up to the Opening-Day-doesn't-matter crowd?

For better insight on Opening Day's significance, NJ Advance Media asked four Yankees about the issue this weekend.

Does the matter, in fact, matter? Here's what they had to say:

Third baseman Chase Headley

The Yankees starting baseman will enter his 10th big league season in 2016, having spent the first eight years of his career in San Diego with the Padres.

The veteran says Opening Day starters have little bearing on his ilk.

"I don't think position players think a whole lot of it," Headley said. "Maybe a feather in the cap for [the pitcher]...But with the exception of that, we don't think about it."

If it weren't the opposing team that day, Headley said he doesn't at all pay attention to who's starting elsewhere in the league on Day 1. For him, he said he would be as likely to congratulate another position player on his Opening Day start as he would the starting pitcher on his team.

"[Starting Opening Day] is nice acknowledgment," he said. "But once it gets going it doesn't mean a whole lot."

Starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi

Eovaldi, 26, has never started an Opening Day. But he'd sure like to.

"Eventually, yes, 100 percent, I want to get an Opening Day start," Eovaldi said. "It means a lot."

Do Eovaldi's sentiments speak for every starter? Perhaps, but even he admitted that after a few times, the novelty is probably lost.

If, for instance, Masahiro Tanaka starts the Yankees' Opening Day this year, Eovaldi probably won't say anything to him since he's already done it (2015). But if, say, rookie Luis Severino were to, he'd say congratulations, since it'd be his first.

"It's one of those things every starter wants to experience," he said.

Manager Joe Girardi

Girardi agreed that, yes, Game 1 is just that: one game, and it's not more significant in the win column than a Saturday in June. But Girardi said that fans take the day more seriously probably because the pitchers mostly do.

"The first few times it means something (to pitchers)," Girardi said. "It's a responsibility that they enjoy."

Girardi offered a guess on why fans take it so seriously, saying, "People like watching aces match up. And it's really abut the only day you're guaranteed to see that again until the playoffs."

True, but he also agreed with a reporter's suggestion that fans care so much about the Opening Day starter because whomever is pitching that game is basically the team saying: This is the best we have to offer this year.

"Sure, that too," Girardi said.

Starter CC Sabathia

Sabathia has started 11 Opening Days in his 15-year career, including every year from 2009-'14 for the Yankees.

He told me that yes, absolutely, pitching Game 1 means a lot to starters.

Funny, though, because he couldn't remember his first one bit.

"Nah, I couldn't even tell you where it was or anything," Sabathia said.

For the record, Sabathia's first Opening Day start was March 31, 2003 against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. (He lost.)

Though the exact memories are fuzzy, Sabathia--unlike Eovaldi--said the feeling never dulled.

"It was always the same excitement," he said. "It's like Opening Day when you're a kid. You put your uniform out, day before you come to the park you get everything ready...It always meant a lot to me. An honor, for sure."

2016

Yankees Opening Day is April 4 at home against the Houston Astros. While Girardi probably isn't close to naming anyone, he did seem to hint at something on Sunday.

"[Tanaka] starts Game 1 of the playoffs (last year)," Girardi said. "The idea is that he's our No. 1 starter, but you've got to see how he does, where he is physically...he's on course, on pace."

The question, of course, remains whether this all matters. The answer seems to depend on who you ask.

Ryan Hatch may be reached at rhatch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanhatch. Find NJ.com on Facebook.