Pitchers and Catchers

While March is primarily about college hoops, any baseball fan will tell you that March is a great month because of spring training. During the winter as you drive by Yankee Stadium the sign will read “xx days ’til pitchers and catchers”. Just the phrase “pitchers and catchers” to a baseball fan means that good things are around the corner.

For some reason in baseball more than any sport, spring training is the time of eternal optimism. Columnists write things like “this could be his breakout season, if only he can learn to hit a curveball”. Every team thinks they have a chance, even if they lost 100 games last year.

And in serious baseball cities, every tiny thing is reported on, discussed and analyzed. A rookie throws 98 mph in a practice session! The next Nolan Ryan! What? He threw it over the catcher’s head? He’ll work that out…

So I am very happy to report that the Yankees won their first spring training game. Johnny Damon led off the game with a home run. Giambi also went yard. Chien-Ming Wang faced six batters and retired them all (5 ground outs).

In their second game (also a win) Andy Pettite looked good, also retiring the six batters he faced. I’m a big Andy Pettite fan (my wife is an even bigger fan, though not for his pitching skills).

So what does this mean? Two spring training wins? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! But who cares? It’s fun. Can’t wait until opening day…