Now that the calendar has turned to 2016, we can officially say baseball season is ahead of us and not behind us.
Before that calendar turns again to 2017, we'll have new Hall of Famers, new breakout stars, other stars wearing new uniforms, and, of course, another World Series championship parade.*And remember, it's an even year — hello, San Francisco — and a leap year, which means one extra day of craziness.
[Elsewhere: The Stew's MLB Year in Review: Person of the year]
We hope you're half as excited as we are.
With that said, this is football's time of year to shine with college bowl season going in full force and the NFL playoffs right around the corner. But that doesn't mean baseball or its stars will be taking a backseat. In fact, two of its biggest stars — Hall of Famer Randy Johnson and reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper — were front and center at Friday's Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix.
For Johnson, who's reached legend status in Arizona after helping lead the Diamondbacks to a World Series championship in 2001, it was a special assignment. Johnson served as Grand Marshal in the Fiesta Bowl parade and then handled the coin toss before Ohio State's 44-28 victory against Notre Dame.
The latter certainly caught the attention of Twitter, leading to many predictable yet still amusing tweets.
The Big Unit, Randy Johnson, out on the field for the coin toss. Here comes the slider.
— Tim Shoemaker (@TimShoemaker) January 1, 2016
Randy Johnson, the ex-Arizona Diamondback pitcher, is on the field for the coin toss. I don’t see any pigeons nearby, so we’re good there.
— Eric Seger (@EricSeger33) January 1, 2016
Fortunately, no pigeons were injured and no players were humiliated by Johnson's slider. Obviously, he was in a good mood.*
Of course, Harper's presence also caught people's attention because, well, he's Bryce Harper. He took a break from weightlifting and box-jumping to support Ohio State, the alma mater of longtime girlfriend Kayla Varner.
[Elsewhere: Funniest Plays of the Year: Jeff Francoeur can't throw (No. 1)]

We're not sure if Harper was a good luck charm or not, but he certainly had to be impressed by Ezekiel Elliot's four-touchdown performance. That one-upped Harper's three home run performance against the Miami Marlins on May 6, so that might give him something to aim for in 2016.*We wouldn't bet against Harper.*
Above everything though, when we look at that picture we can't help but wonder what would have happened had Randy Johnson and Bryce Harper squared off during their prime. Talk about a dream matchup, that's one we'd give anyone to see just once.*
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

- - - - - - -
Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813