Baseball has had a growing place in my life over the last few years. The casual fanhood of my youth had me attending one baseball game a year and watching when the World Series began. As my love of the game has grown I have become more and more attached each year. This year I finally reached the level that the regular season just isn't enough. As I started watching Spring Training games I learned something; just like the regular season there will be up and there will be downs.
On day one of the Spring Training games season was the Joe Torre debut as the Los Angeles Dodgers manager. The buzz around his impact on the young players was evident on the field. Just in case I had missed it every one with a microphone or a keyboard remind me how Joe Torre was going to change thing for the Dodgers who haven't seen much of the post season lately.
One day after kicking myself for missing all the things I could have learned from spring baseball all these years, I sat with anticipation as Johann Santana took the mound for the first time as a member of the New York Mets. I could hardly wait. If Torre, a big time manager, could help the Dodgers so much from the dugout; how much more would Santana, an impact player, do on the field. After watching a few innings worth of Santanna getting shelled I began to realize, maybe spring baseball is just about as valuable as the NFL preseason.
Just like the NFL preseason though, I'm going to watch. It may not be the best performances, I may not be able to learn the future of a franchise, but I still love the crack of the bat.
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