Baseball is Back!!
Now that the Super Bowl is over its time to get back to America’s Pastime. For those of us that are baseball fans, it is a time of new beginnings. Don’t get me wrong, I love football, I love watching basketball and I love golf. I just love sports; however, baseball just hits different. Please, pardon the pun.
As we begin thawing out from winter and heading into spring, pitchers and catchers reporting signals the dawning of spring, much like the tulips and other spring flowers. We all enter 2024 with high hopes, and some like my fellow Dodger fans, extremely high expectations after an off season of going buck wild signing free agents and making trades. Only a handful of teams will be left when the playoffs start in October, but for now we all can have dreams of World Series Glory. There is a hope and an optimism in Spring Training that doesn’t exist anywhere else.
I have been to spring training a couple of times, I will be at a game or two in Florida this March, and there is nothing like it. Whether its Florida and the Grapefruit league, or Arizona’s Cactus league, fans from all over will be soon descending on these states and cities to watch both new and veteran players shake off the rust of the offseason. The snap of the leather, the crack of the bat, the smell of the grass, hotdogs, and spring air, the cheers from the crowds… such a perfect preamble to this game we love, and part of the reason we love it so much at the same time.
Baseball is an easy sport to enjoy, and especially at spring training, people are there to take in the sights and the sounds of the game, and that can be said for baseball in general. It’s a special thing about baseball fans, they can enjoy the game for the games sake, even at the detriment to their team, i.e. watching their team get no hit. We don’t like our team to lose, but sometimes witnessing history takes precedent, and we can appreciate and cheer for greatness.
I’ve written recently that for me baseball is a family affair! My whole family text thread has been filled with posts and memes about baseball in anticipation of spring training since Christmas. Mostly Yankees stuff since my extended family is mostly Yankee fans, but the great thing is we are all ready for baseball to be here. Family is what baseball is about to me, and it is no more exemplified than at spring training. Families everywhere, fathers and mothers teaching their sons and daughters to love the game!
I love seeing all the kids get so excited to see these players. Stars and stars in the making, the new faces, the rookies, and even the steady solid players that represent their team so well. I adore the interactions between players and the fans, especially the kids, while signing autographs and taking pictures, the players remembering what it was like when they were kids. A reminder that they get to play this wonderful game for a job! The excitement from both fans and players is palpable!
Spring training signals to us fans, it is time to prepare for the season! As with any year, there are so many story lines to follow: Can the Braves repeat in the east and make a deeper run in the playoffs? Will all the Dodgers signings, trades, and extensions result in a World Series trip and victory? Will Houston continue to own the AL west? Which team will come out of nowhere to make the playoffs? Which playoff team from last year will falter? Will any “curses” be broken this year? What coaches will be on the hotseat this season? MVP’s? I could go on and on with questions we all can’t wait to be answered.
Most importantly for us baseball fans though, is simple, baseball is back!
By Scott Carter