Since I was a child I’ve admired the magic of
spring training baseball. It’s all about a renewal and new beginnings.
And it’s unlike anything else in sports.
When I was a kid my dad used to take me and my brother to spring
training games down in Florida for the weekend. This was always a
weekend of sun, fun, catching multiple games a day and meeting a lot of
young players who would go on to be superstars. I came to treasure these
times not only because it was great family time, but because it would
ignite a lifelong love of spring training. It not only meant that the
sun was coming out again, but that it was a new beginning for everyone
in baseball.
During the off-season you would always here about baseball players
getting ready for the season. In the dark days of December you would
read about their workout regimens, about how they would spend their
mornings learning how
to mix HCG, then going out to train at their indoor gym
all afternoon long. What spring training meant is that everything was
starting anew and that the training regime would now begin to pay off on
the actual field. It was like the beginning of spring and a sign that
things would begin changing.
My favorite thing to do at spring training was watch the pitchers.
Unlike just about any other position in sports, pitching is about
finding your rhythm. It’s about getting back that fastball that you last
left on the mound four months ago. Spring training for a pitcher is
about making sure your speed and control doesn’t slip. It’s about trying
to perfect your art.
During spring training, outside of bullpen work managers don’t like to
have their pitchers on the mound for too long. It is possible to wear
your pitcher out if you push them too hard out of the gate. You watch
managers bring their pitchers into spring training games for about 2
innings at a time and just when a pitcher is about to hit his stride you
take him out. It’s all about coaxing a pitcher to slowly get to his
full potential. Start them at 70% and slowly build them up so that when
they are ready for opening day they are at a full 100%. This is why
managers get paid so much and are much smarter than the average sports
fan: they know about patience and they about finding the best way to get
the most out of their playoffs. Its reasons like that why there is
nothing quite like spring training baseball.
