Tuesday, February 15, 2005
It's a beautiful day
The sun is shining just a bit brighter today, the air seems just a tad fresher, and life's worries seem to be drifting away. Why? Because pitchers and catchers reported for spring training this very day, signaling to all of us sports-starved maniacs that baseball season is but right around the corner.
For those of us who couldn't quite frankly give two shiznits about the pathetic NBA, this is truly the most miserable time of the year. Football season has ended, and there's nothing left to do but, I don't know, live life. But in camps around Florida and Arizona, the boys of summer are gearing up and getting ready to play some baseball. Of course, some have reported aleady, like this year's eventual Cy Young winner Pedro Martinez. But as of today it all begins again for the greatest sport God has ever blessed mankind with.
Everything seems possible this time of the season. Everyone is even with the Yankees, and everyone is a potential world champion. Except the Cubs, because only one curse can end per lifetime.
And speaking personally, this time of year always brings me back to my youth, of gearing up for the upcoming little league season by playing catch with my father or the kids on the block. The glove is re-oiled (ah, the smell of baseball glove oil), and there remains the eternal optimism that you just might win one game this year. Yeah, I had a really lously little league team every solitary season, but such is life.
And of course it should happen to be an incredibly bright and sunny mid-winter's day in the nation's capital, which only serves to re-inforce that Spring is nigh, and the crack of the bat will soon be heard once again in this city. Oh sure, the team will stink, but there's baseball to be played, and at least for this brief time we can focus on the glorious anticipation of a new season. I already can't wait for that first trip to RFK, to sit and watch Pedro come to town and pitch the first perfect game in Mets' history.
Hey, it's the first day of spring training. Everything is still possible.
For those of us who couldn't quite frankly give two shiznits about the pathetic NBA, this is truly the most miserable time of the year. Football season has ended, and there's nothing left to do but, I don't know, live life. But in camps around Florida and Arizona, the boys of summer are gearing up and getting ready to play some baseball. Of course, some have reported aleady, like this year's eventual Cy Young winner Pedro Martinez. But as of today it all begins again for the greatest sport God has ever blessed mankind with.
Everything seems possible this time of the season. Everyone is even with the Yankees, and everyone is a potential world champion. Except the Cubs, because only one curse can end per lifetime.
And speaking personally, this time of year always brings me back to my youth, of gearing up for the upcoming little league season by playing catch with my father or the kids on the block. The glove is re-oiled (ah, the smell of baseball glove oil), and there remains the eternal optimism that you just might win one game this year. Yeah, I had a really lously little league team every solitary season, but such is life.
And of course it should happen to be an incredibly bright and sunny mid-winter's day in the nation's capital, which only serves to re-inforce that Spring is nigh, and the crack of the bat will soon be heard once again in this city. Oh sure, the team will stink, but there's baseball to be played, and at least for this brief time we can focus on the glorious anticipation of a new season. I already can't wait for that first trip to RFK, to sit and watch Pedro come to town and pitch the first perfect game in Mets' history.
Hey, it's the first day of spring training. Everything is still possible.
# posted by Paul Zummo : 2:41 PM
