Welcome to the jungle... er training camp

Today is one of my favorite days of the year, one of the small things that keeps me going right at the point that spring semester seems like it's going to last forever. It's the day pitchers and catchers report to camp. I don't know what it is about spring training, but it's just an all around hopeful time, no matter who you're a fan of. The sun starts shining, the gloves and baseball caps come out of the closet, and Craig Wilson and Oliver Perez look like All-Stars against Manatee County Community College. Today in the 'Burgh was probably a perfect day to reflect that atmosphere. I think it was like 50-60 degrees out all day long (I say "think" because I spent all day inside working on something called "Integrated Lab" that Duquesne uses to torture chem majors), and by mid-afternoon the rain broke and the sun came out.

Mostly I like today because of the hope it symbolizes. No one sits down on February 15th worrying about the little things. We sit down and think about how exciting it is that Duke and Maholm will be in the bigs for a full year, that Perez's arm feels good, that Jason Bay is the best player that no one's ever heard of in the NL, that no two middle infielders are more fun to watch than Jack Wilson and Jose Castillo, that when it comes to playing center field Chris Duffy reminds us all of a certain #18 that we loved to roam center at Three Rivers, that Lloyd is gone and the players really seem to like the new staff. Sure, you could look at the team and talk about how they're not much better than last year, how Dave Littlefield seemed to have a penchant for setting money on fire this offseason, and how Tracy at times can seem dumber than a rock, but that's no fun. Spring training is officially open and that means it's time to be hopeful, no matter how long the odds are. Why? Because if you aren't hopeful during spring training, I'm not sure when you ever will be.