So what’s the hype about spring training?

A Report From Boston Red Sox Spring Training

--Submitted by The Sister Turned Red Sox Fanatic

My husband and I just returned from Boston Red Sox Spring Training at JetBlue Park in Ft. Myers, Florida, USA. I felt like I should add U.S.A because it totally felt like an other-world experience. Going to spring training at least once appears on (almost) every Red Sox fan’s “bucket list. So is it worth the hype? Absolutely.  And then some.  It’s magic!
 

Let me make one thing clear up front—going to spring training is only a tiny bit about baseball.  Actually, the seven games we saw in two weeks were probably some of the lamest baseball, I have ever seen.  The first four innings might offer a hint of what will happen in the season ahead as at least some of the big leaguers show up early in the game. The starting pitchers rotate in and out like divas. The infielders spend a lot of time man-hugging their buds from opposing teams. The outfielders turn their faces into the warm Florida rays like sunflowers until the crowd noises suggest that someone hit the ball and they snap back into action. The umpires strut just because that’s what they do. Their “protective equipment” is probably a bit snug after a winter of whatever. Instant replays this year in MLB will make them pay a bit more attention.  And no one spits.

By the fifth inning, sooner if the manager deems, Red Sox wannabes rotate into the game; the roster can go to complete unknowns in seconds. Lots of Bryces and Brooks and Bretts coming up, I see.   Then the chaos begins. I saw innings with 5 errors, six walks prior to the first out, rookies knocking over anyone near home plate on the slide in, and spectacular bobbles in the outfield. And the crowd, so not Fenway. 

Missing were the beer-soaked four-sport fans from Boston who bad- mouth the players and the managers because they can (so not Fenway). The vendors actually sell beer in the cheap seats (so not Fenway).  Fans from other teams with training facilities in Florida just come to the game because it’s fun (that is so like Fenway). Even Yankee fans were pretty tolerable, so not Fenway (ok, we all drank a lot of beer).

So what’s the hype?  Just approaching JetBlue Park amidst the fluttering flags declaring “Fenway South”, the oversize banner proclaiming the Boston Red Sox as champions of the universe (took some literary liberty there) and a replica of the Ted Williams statue at Fenway were emotionally overwhelming. You aren’t even in the park yet and you are bleeding Red Sox proud!  When you enter the park, you are struck by the eerie familiarity of the Green Monster and the Pesky Pole. Sitting in a game at Spring Training drinking a beer when it’s 85 degrees makes you believe that despite arguably the longest winter in history, that summer will come again and with it the promise that all things are possible (or possible again in the case of the Red Sox). Hearing the familiar “play ball!” and the national anthem, and Sweet Caroline, and “Get Your Beer Here!” made me very emotional (ok, I sobbed). 

Generations of Red Sox fans from newborns in “B” emblazed onesies to wizened retirees (half of New England retires in Florida) offer a collective embrace of the new season. The intimacy of the park with only 11,000 seats encourages spontaneous conversation and free flowing opinions about “their chances” this year. Lots of high fives are exchanged as well as occasional bemoaning about who deserted the Red Sox for more money. There is predictably, enthusiastic cheering when the scoreboard shows the Yankees losing to anyone. So as the experience is so not Fenway, it is so Fenway. It is such a wonderful illustration of the paradox that is baseball in New England.  As fans we want everthing to be different but we don’t want anything to change. 

Yes, spring training is definitely worth the hype! 

High Hopes, High Anxiety: Scouting Report from the Softball Diva

OPENING GAME: Tuesday, April 1.  N.Y. Yankees at Houston Astros

OPENING GAME AT HOME, Monday April 7. Baltimore Orioles at N.Y. Yankees
 

Report from the Softball Diva and Terminal Yankees Fan

NEW YORK, NY - Oh, yeah, sure, the Yankees totally scrapped the idea of getting their payroll under $189 million this year when the various big cheeses realized zillions of dollars were being lost with lower attendance and fewer eyeballs on YES (Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network).    Amazingly, the Yankees played meaningful games until the last two weeks of the season last year, and that was done with a team ravaged by major injuries.    The only bright spot was the adulation and adoration that greeted Mariano Rivera on his farewell tour.   He was greeted at every stadium like a rock star.   In fact, some big rock stars, Metallica, were instrumental in rocking the Stadium on Mariano Rivera Day in the Bronx.  And now Mo’s gone off into the sunset leaving die-hard Yankee fans with wonderful, poignant memories of the sweet man who was the greatest closer ever.   Sigh.   But I digress.

So, yeah, 2013 was a year of not making the playoffs for only the second time since 1995.  Yep, we Yankee fans are spoiled.   It obviously became time to open up the wallets, and Hal Steinbrenner and his crew did just that.    Oh, it was sweet, just like the days when the old man, THE BOSS, bought every super star he could and then demanded a championship.  Maybe Hal is a chip off the old block.  The Yanks went out and got a great, and I mean great new catcher from the Atlanta Braves ……Brian McCann.   He is a lefty, and he is going to love the short porch in right field where he might hit, say, 30 home runs, and he is supposed to be excellent with the pitching staff.   He’s a tough guy, too, and he is already being compared to  Thurmon Munson, a very beloved Yankee catcher.   

Then the Yanks spent more money on Jacoby Ellsbury, former superstar center fielder from the Red Sox.   Great speed and great hitting and great fielding if…..and it’s the first of many “ifs”…..if he can stay healthy.   Carlos Beltran always wanted to play for the Yankees.    They wrapped him up, too, with a lucrative contract.    He’s a switch hitter, and he, along with Mark Texiera, another prolific switch hitter back from missing almost all of last year, should make the lineup much, much stronger IF they both stay healthy.  

To top it all off, the Yanks went out and outbid everyone for Masahiro Tanaka, the Japanese phenom who was 24-0 last year.   He’s never pitched in the big leagues, but the Yanks have scouted him for years, and most people in the biz think he is the real deal.   Yanks Ace CC Sabathia had a very subpar year last year, but he is back feeling stronger than ever, and he shed 40 lbs.    That may be good or bad.    He seemed to have a lot more success when his waistline expanded.   We shall see IF he regains his form that has made him such a stud in the past.   And just maybe after two years of never even playing in a game for the Yankees, Michael Pineda will be ready to contribute …..or at least compete for the fifth spot in the rotation  IF he recovers fully from the shoulder surgery that knocked him out for two years.   The Yankees will have Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Tanaka, Ivan Nova, and whoever wins the fifth spot.   It will be a much improved rotation, again IF…..everyone stays healthy…..tired of hearing it?   

The Yankees have spent about $450 million for 4 players…..and oh, yeah, lots of money was freed up when A-Rod decided to take a sabbatical to ponder the mysteries of life and how he could better serve the universe.   That sounded almost believable, right? 

So there really is a lot to be excited about.   Of course there is a lot to be worried about, too.   Texiera may still have lingering wrist issues.   CC might continue to underperform.   Ellsbury and Beltran are injury prone…so is Brian Roberts, our new 36-year-old second baseman who has the unenviable task of taking the place of Robinson Cano.   Gulp!   Tanaka could find the rigors of pitching every 5 days and working with a bigger baseball than they had in Japan and the specter of facing major league ball players quite overwhelming.   I doubt it, but he could really stink in his first year in the majors.   And Kelly Johnson (who?) might not handle third base very well.   (Not that anyone is missing Alex Rodriguez at the hot corner.)  David Robertson, our excellent 8^th inning bullpen guy from last year is going to now be our closer.   No one can replace Mo, but Robertson’s going to try.   If he is a bust, there aren’t others lined up to move into that spot.   In simple terms, there is a lot that can go wrong.

In fact, the more I think about it…..oh, brother.     Where is my Prozac?   But wait…..just wait a minute.   DEREK JETER…..the Captain, the face of the franchise, one of the best Yankees ever, has said that this 2014 season will be his last.   Oh, the pain, the inevitable truth that Father Time wins all the battles in the end.   Jeter only played 17 games last year after a broken ankle suffered in the first game of the American League Championship Series in 2012.  He went down in agony, and the Yanks went down swiftly losing four games to the Detroit Tigers.   It seemed the Yanks never recovered from Jeter’s injury all through the 2013 season, but he is back for one final season.    He tells us that his ankle is fine, fully recovered and he expects to play well, very well, up to his usual standards of excellence.  

Of course Jeter will be 40 in June.   No team has ever won a World Series with an everyday shortstop over 36…..and yes, he might break down.   More Prozac, please!

But no one wants to see him fail, and he wants to win more than anything.   His desire should fuel not only himself, but his teammates.   Everyone wants him to do well.   He just wants to win.   It’s really the only thing that matters in the Yankee Universe.

In conclusion, I will boldly state on the record that Jeter and the Yanks go deep, very deep into October.  Furthermore, Jeter gets his sixth ring; the Yanks will win their 28^th Championship!     It most definitely could happen.    Lots of high hopes…..as far as the anxiety, a couple cold ones will help.   No need for Prozac for this fan.

 

GO YANKEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!!!