It's That Time of Year

Everybody has that one friend. They aren’t a sports fan, they are a sport fan. It’s the guy who watches the completely meaningless Raptors game instead of playoff hockey, or the guy who insists on watching the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in July instead of watching Italy and France in the World Cup final. When it comes to baseball, I am that fan. So with the Olympics in full swing, the only thing that I am interested in is pitchers and catchers reporting to camp and all the great rituals that accompany it.

One great ritual of spring is the reappearance of baseball games on television. This usually occurs once a week starting in mid-March in the form of a Saturday afternoon game. As I mentioned above, these games are not for sports fans but rather only for baseball fans. Only someone who truly loves baseball could put up with (what is often) shots from a single, stationary camera behind home plate and the split squad rosters that ensure you won’t see a single player that will make the opening day roster play more than two innings. These games are so lax that the players don’t even wear real jerseys. Despite these glaring shortcomings, there is nothing like watching that first game of the year to remind myself that I really only watch football because there is nothing else on.

Another great ritual of springtime is the requisite smack talk that occurs between rival teams. This year has been so exception. Not sure who the best pitcher in the NL East is? Don’t worry, Johan Santana will tell you. Not sure who will win the division? No sweat, David Wright knows. All that is missing so far in the Mets/Phillies smack talk is for Roy Halladay to tell a ‘yo momma’ joke aimed at Carlos Beltran. As ludicrous and misinformed as these predictions can be, they a little drama can keep things interesting during a time of year when starting players only play a few innings a game.

Spring training is a great time of the year to be a baseball fan for many reasons but the biggest and best of these reasons is that everything is still possible and nothing has been proven untrue: Rookies will perform the same way in the majors that they did in the minors, veterans won’t regress, injured players will return to form, and yes that awful year he had last year was just an aberration (or the last few in the case of Lyle Overbay). Whatever the uncertainty looms large for your favorite team, the cold hard realities of the major league season have not yet kicked in and deflated their chances. For the Jays this means that as of right now Ricky Romero can contend for the Cy Young, Shaun Marcum will return to form, Travis Snider will hit 40 homers, Vernon Wells will earn half his money and Jose Bautista will not play like Jose Bautista.

For many teams not expected to contend (and the Mets), the season can be a long one, but when spring training starts, we all still have the same record. This makes spring training worth watching not only for the rituals and but the hope and excitement that may not be there for fans of every team come June or July. And that’s what makes spring training exciting for all sports fans.

Keeping the Burner On: A Few Ideas for the End of the Hot Stove Season

Boston Bring in a Big Bat

Yeah they upgraded their pitching (Lackey) and defense (Beltre and Cameron) but the defending champion Yankees added pitching and of their own (not to mention Curtis Granderson). Boston has a deep and versatile lineup but if the season started tomorrow would anyone in Beantown really be comfortable with Shrek (David Ortiz), J.D. Drew, or Victor Martinez hitting fourth? The Sox still lack the dominant middle of the order bat that is needed to usurp the Yankees as AL champs. Not only are the Yankees as rich as ever but it looks like they are starting to make very sound baseball decisions to go with their money. If Boston wants to keep up with the Steinbrenners Miguel Cabrera or Adrian Gonzalez may be worth a handful of prospects.

Really Detroit? Johnny Damon?

Only months after trading the most popular man in Michigan due to payroll issues, the Tigers are thinking of signing Johnny Damon. Damon is still a productive player and could provide to be a steal if he comes at the right price, but if I was a Tigers fan I would not take kindly to seeing Granderson and his affordable contract being shipped to the Yankees only to see him replaced with an older and comparably priced outfielder (and Jose Valverde).

Wang, Dye, Blalock Go West!

While Seattle has been deemed one of this offseason’s winners, the team still appears to be lacking power and starting pitching depth. If the team took a flyer on Chien-Ming Wang, Jermaine Dye or Hank Blalock (either seems like a better fit than Eric Byrnes) it would solidify the team as a playoff contender. Bringing back Jarrod Washburn wouldn’t hurt either.

Toronto: Bring Big Hot Carl(os)

This might be a tough year for the Jays so what better way to distract fans than bringing back and aging icon? Hey it worked in Seattle. Carlos could provide us with a link to the “glory days” (those 75-85 win teams of the 2000s) and make us forget what the Jays are doing on the field in 2010. Plus he is still probably a better hitter than many of the Jays regulars…if only he could play on the left side of the infield.