Baseball and the Dog Days of……Spring Training
Is the regular season here yet?
I’m as excited as everyone else for baseball to be back on the radio feed and on my second monitor. There are three times when I’m really excited during spring training. The opening games. It doesn’t matter who is playing, I’m just happy to have the game back. I love baseball. The curve of a beautiful breaking ball and the no doubt of a 400+ foot home run. When it’s been months since I’ve seen either of those, the first game played during spring training is must-see entertainment.
The second time I get excited is the first Blue Jays game. Now, this comes with some caveats. The powers that be seem to think Blue Jays games are not that important to show to the fans. In years past, only some of the Jays’ “home” games during spring training have been watchable. I find myself relegated to watching Yankees, Phillies, Pirates, and Tigers feed where they talk about how great the broadcast team’s home teams are going to be while they interview their star player(s) or more often the coach and place the Blue Jays in a little tiny box as the booth and the manager share old guy fake laughs and talk about winter vacations. I’ve turned to listen to the Jays’ radio feeds or to no game audio and that seems to make the baseball viewing world a better place, but I digress.
The third time I get excited about spring training is the last day of spring training. Cliche, I’m sure, but I’m sitting here on the second full day of spring training, waiting for evening hockey to start and looking over the highlights of home runs and peeking at some box scores, I’m reminded why I can live my life without following spring training games. Now, I understand the importance. Pitchers really do need to be stretched out. Batters need to get their timing in place against game-like pitching. Spring Training is important, I just can’t get my bluster up to care. You sit and hope everyone makes it through healthy. As of this writing, Gavin Lux has been carted off the field with a “popped” knee that could be a busted ACL. Tyler Glasnow is getting an MRI for an oblique injury. Some deep dark part of my soul doesn’t feel bad for the Rays, but the human part of me feels bad for the player. Additionally, as a fan of teams who have dealt with injury setbacks what feels like year after year, I don’t wish games missed on any fanbase. It’s probably the most powerless feeling as a fan when your team can’t even get their full roster on the playing surface. These injury updates are the exact bits of news we all hope to avoid over the next month of spring training games. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed.
Spring Training has its place and I will not sit here and ask for some solution that will never see the light of day. I’m just giving the world notice that I hope you don’t mind if I follow from afar now that the first weekend of games has been played.
