It's A Wonderful Time of Year!

To the baseball fan, there are a few great times of the year. When pitchers and catchers report to spring training is always a great day. That means that the rest of the position players will be shortly returning, and spring training will be in full affect.

The Grapefruit and Cactus leagues will start and everyone will have their chance to watch their favorite players get their cuts and conditioning done to be ready for the season. You also get to see the potential up and comers. It is something fun to watch and talk about.

Opening day for the MLB is another great one. The boys of summer are back, and nothing can ever possibly go wrong when baseball is being played.

Now one of the best days of the year comes when we can all step back on the field. Here in baseball north, it often means throwing on some extra layers and watching the inside pitch, but it is still great. The greatness comes because for 27 outs, and 90 feet at a time, we can all live the dream.

For myself and a lot of my fellow dirt bags, the season runs from May until sometime in November. I like to take a few months off once the season is done. I eat what I want, drink what I want, and forget what the inside of a weight room looks like.

Well the attendance in the weight room has started again, and its time to drop the off season LBs. But this entry is not about time in the gime. It's about what follows.

Last week I started to hit again. Great feeling. The hitting calluses will be back soon, and it will be time to start legging out the extra base hits and trotting after the dingers!

But the real way I could tell that it is almost time for ball season, was I started to throw the other day. It was incredible. A simple game of catch might seem just that, simple, but to a die hard fan of the game, it is so much more.

Catch is a reminder of the tens of thousands of times you have done it before. It's a time to reminisce about the season just past, with the bitter taste of being so close. It reminds you of the glory years you've had, and the better years you hope to have.

The throws start off really short, just to brush the dust off the arms. You go through the mechanics that have been entrenched into your brain, and try to
just get the feel for things again.

As the throws start to stretch out, the accuracy tends to diminish. One hops to your partner, too high, too wide; it goes with the territory, but you know that the rust will soon be removed to reveal the polished piece of machinery that is a ball players arm.

It is the beginning of the best time of year. It means the season is just around the corner, and we can all be boys of summer. It has always been the center of some of the best memories of my life, and it will continue to be.

I've said for years once I finish playing college ball, my playing days will be over, and I'll be alright with that. Baseball been very very good to me, so it will be my turn to give it all back.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got in regards to the game hits the nail right on the head. Always remember, the umpire calls out the first pitch to ever game with "Play Ball!" Never once has it been yelled "Work Ball!"

The season is right around the corner everyone. Swing hard, just in case you hit something.