It’s official! It’s Spring! We may be buried under untold inches of ice and snow but in the deserts and along palm-shaded beaches balls are being scuffed, bats are being pine tarred, caps are being dirtied (I miss Trotter).
And there’s beer! In the Florida sun! What’s not to like?
The beginning of another Spring Training made me think about why I’m so stoked about baseball these days and why all other sports absolutely pale in comparison. I think it all hinges on spring. Football comes in when the leaves turn brown, when thoughts turn to going back to school and winter looms large on the horizon. Everything is dying. There’s no fun to look forward to until summer. Life’s a drag.
Baseball, on the other hand, starts up just when you’ve had all you can take of dead winter, snow, and ice. You can watch games under the afore-mentioned palm trees or in the dry desert heat. You can look ahead to breezy summer evenings, a beer in hand and the roar of the crowd surrounding you. You can look forward to mad dashes to Baltimore, bar hopping on the Metro in Washington, an annual pilgrimage under threat of rain and loss to Fenway Park, new ballparks to visit, new teams to see and the final wind-down in October when another eclipse might just mean the Phillies go all the way this year.
Oh man, pitchers and catchers have reported. Position players and workouts next week. And games, blissful games, soon after that. There are damned few things in this life to look forward to. At least we’ve still got base-ball.
