(written March 7 at MDW)
OK...The day finally arrives, the day I take my first trip to Spring Training. WOO HOO
It's actually felt more like a Monday morning than a Friday morning...you know those days where no matter how hard you try and how ready you think you are things are bound to go wrong. From losing my cell phone to the parking lot shuttle not running to my flight being delayed an hour due to weather in Pittsburgh--yeah, it's been one of those days. Somehow I've managed to keep a smile on my face. It's OK. I'm going to Spring Training (I think...)
Maybe one of the reasons I've kept a smile on my face is because Stone Pony himself was calling the game today on 670. I can't tell you how excited I am to have him in the booth this year! He is the best!
Danks is scheduled to be on the mound tomorrow and I look forward to seeing him. He looked good earlier this week.
As everyone's probably noticed I took the winter off almost completely. New job, family stuff and just the general need to chill/recharge, anyway, here we are. Got a big new tv for the away games and a DVR for those I have to miss because of work....but I'll probably have the radio on anyway to listen to Stoney.
Since I've got some extra time to kill here at the airport and I'm over people watching at this point here's a quick recap of my thoughts on the winter moves:
Losing out on Torii Hunter, if Kenny would have paid $90 mil for 5 years I would have been pissed. He's good, but he's not that good! I've gone all this time disliking him so I'm happy to continue doing so.
I can't bring myself to mention The Legend because I'm as tired of that as I am about those who STILL call in crying for BA. He is not worth what he was wanting. The ONLY good thing that could have come out of him coming back would be that it woulda shut all those idiots up who think he is as legendary as he thinks he is. Funny, guess I'll be seeing him tomorrow in a Giants uni.
If you don't know what we are getting out of Nick Swisher and Cabrera I probably don't want to talk to you.
I'm not so hot on Linebrink (to put it mildly) and I think a lot of other things remain to be seen (who's playing third, center, leading off, who will be the 5th starting pitcher, will MacDougal ever get some confidence or will Kenny be able to unload him somewhere, etc. etc.) What will Dotel bring to the table, this is the year we are supposed to see the benefit of his surgery. Which Contreras will show up? Did Richar hurt himself by not getting his visa on time--probably? Uribe is still here (argh). Is Toby Hall still going to suck? Did we even win any games he started/played in last year? Originally I was excited about the acquisition, that quickly changed after he got off the DL last year.
The Tigers have made some good moves but I think a lot of people are forgetting or ignoring some big off the field items that could impact the team. Sure it'll probably help the D-Train to have IRod behind the plate...he could reimmerge to his old self but Inge asked to be traded (is that ever a good thing when a player asks to leave?), Maggs will be dealing with Congress and Conseco claims, Sheff is a hot head, Kenny Rogers is old (IRod is/getting old) people are hurt (important people are hurt). Again, we'll see. Sometimes chemistry is all wrong, sometimes the best teams on paper suck (Ahem). Plus, you gotta stay healthy....and I'm not sold on their pitching. CLE will be tougher than DET.
As for the others (KC and MIN), I'm interested to see. Lots of new faces but that's not to say that they can't play ball, it's just how good can they play.
It's almost time to board, I'm out. Bring on the Boys of Summer!!
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March 8, Sox vs Giants post game
What's up with all the crazy goatees in the Sox bullpen??
AJ looks like he lost some weight.
Scouts seemed particularly interested in Crede, Fields, MacDougal, Wasserman and Danks from what I could tell.
Mr. March (BA) is in full-effect.
It was a great day. Warm, sunny, White Sox on the field and an air show in the background. I was lucky enough to walk up and score a ticket right behind the scouts and wives (so you know it was a good seat!)
I met some very nice people (Sox fans, Giants fans and even some Dodger fans) who all made the day more fun. Thanks to Karen (the Giants fan) who sent me her pictures--which were much better than mine!