Wednesday Feb. 27th.

What a beautiful day. It was a sunny 80º with a slight breeze, perfect weather for a game and by the way it was 22º in Chicago and they had 5 inches of snow yesterday! I got to the park about an hour before the game. I wanted to be at the park and see if they were going to have batting practice or drill before they took to the field. I got my ticket from the will call and as I walked up to the gate I was met with the aroma of fresh cut grass and hot dogs. Everyone else was as glad to be there as I was. There are people who winter here in Tucson just to volunteer at the park for Spring Training.

The quote I gave you a few days ago about the harbinger of spring being the sound of the bat on the ball is all well and good but I realized that there is a sound that means more to me than that one. It is the sound of a 90 mile an hour fastball striking the catchers glove. That “thwap” as the ball strikes the glove; there is nothing else like it in the world. There are few other sounds that are as sweet to my ears.

I had my beer and my Polish Dog with peppers and I watched the game. I am sorry to say that the Sox got stomped after the 5th inning. In Spring Training, the first innings are to get the regulars into the groove of playing. They are not going to have their star catcher A.J. Pierzynski catch an entire game just yet and John Danks is not ready to pitch more than just a couple of innings. After all of the regulars got a good workout, they are released from the game and then it is time for the non-roster invitees and the non-starters to get some playing time.

There are 2 big fielding issues for the team this year. Juan Uribe, the short stop from last year does not have a full time position to play with the addition of Orlando Cabrera to the roster and Josh Fields, who was so amazing last year as the 3rd base replacement for Joe Creede, who was sidelined for 90% of last season.

If this is boring to any of you, I am sorry, but I just love my ball and I am so excited for it to be spring again. I will try to keep it to a dull roar, as we will have baseball for the next 8 months.