I love spring training
Well, not really.
If you think about it, spring training is rather dull, and the
exhibition games are meaningless.
Who has had the best spring training record the last three
years?
San Diego, Kansas City and Baltimore, of course.
Pointless.
What makes spring training so lovable is it means baseball
season is almost here (just 21 days!). The hardest time for any
baseball fan is the off-season.
Why is spring training so great?
Here are some reasons why:
“¢bull; Optimism ““ It’s illegal to be pessimistic in
spring training.
Even if you’re a fan of the Detroit Tigers or Milwaukee
Brewers, you can’t be pessimistic.
Every spring brings new hope. Hey, on opening day, they’ll
be tied for first. And anything can happen in baseball. Just look
at the Angels last season.
Reasons for fans of traditionally bad teams to be excited:
Tampa Bay ““ Hey, they have a new manager, who did great
things in Seattle. Granted, Lou Piniella had much better talent on
the Mariners, but remember those teams he had when he started?
Chicago Cubs ““ New manager who just went to the World
Series last year (Dusty Baker) and a pitching rotation of young
potential all-star pitchers. And they got rid of Todd Hundley!
Florida Marlins ““ They’ve been on a perennial
firesale ever since they won the World Series in 1997 (Yes, it
actually did happen) but they signed Ivan Rodriguez over the
off-season and were around .500 for half of last season.
Detroit ““ Hey, they might not lose 120 games this
season!
“¢bull; Position battles.
Every year, the rosters on most teams are pretty set, but every
team ““ good or bad ““ has a position or two that players
are battling for.
Jeff Weaver and Jose Contreras will be batting to be the fifth
starter on the Yankee$$$.
The Tigers have a battle at shortstop between Omar Infante and
Ramon Santiago.
“¢bull; Daily reports during the dead time in sports.
Why every baseball fan truly loves spring training. After a
four-month off-season (five for non-playoff teams), it’s good
to hear about baseball in the news again.
Hey, it’s hard to fill SportsCenter with
Cavaliers-Clippers highlights.
“¢bull; Contract disputes.
While this might not be an enjoyable part of baseball, it
certainly is interesting.
Pedro Martinez has already been demanding that the Red Sox pick
up his option for 2004 now (as they should, he is the best pitcher
in the American League).
Other players are just now getting arbitration cases
settled.
But nothing tops the saga of Kevin Millar.
Because of the depressing economic situation in Major League
Baseball, Millar first wanted the Marlins to sell his contract to
the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese league. Then, because of
family reasons, he wanted to come back to America.
The Red Sox wanted to sign him, but the Dragons wouldn’t
oblige. Finally, the MLB Players Association stepped in, and
threatened to cancel their support of the Mariners-A’s
opening series in Japan in March.
“¢bull; Rookies. They give every fan hope.
Ranging from rookies who have shown their potential, including
Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels and Hideki Matsui of the Yankees,
to Travis Hafner of the Indians and Joe Thurston on the Dodgers,
who will be counted on for their teams to compete.
Last year, Jason Jennings showed that pitching in Coors Field
was possible, and Rodrigo Lopez kept the Orioles around .500 until
September.
“¢bull; New faces in new places ““ arguably the best reason
of all. How will Jim Thome help Philadelphia? Will Pudge allow
Florida to compete?
I love spring training. But not as much as opening day. Only 26
days ’til the Angels get to defend their World Series title.
I can’t wait.
The Stat Geek is rooting for the Tigers to break the ’62
Mets record for futility. E-mail him at
gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.