I Love Baseball

Spring training is coming soon.  

The college football season is over. The NFL just had its Super Bowl leaving only basketball and hockey as nationally televised sports. I am not a fan of either. I love baseball. Some of my fondest memories involved my folks taking their vacations to coincide with the Brooklyn Dodgers schedule. We would either go to Brooklyn and stay with my mother’s brother (Uncle Son) or to Cincinnati and stay with my Dad’s brother (Uncle Floyd). We saw Jackie Robinson and the wonderful Dodgers of that era. We saw Willie Mays when they played the Giants and Frank Robinson, Curt Flood and Vada Pinson when they played the Reds.

This year, pitchers and catchers started reporting on February 9 with all teams reporting on February 12. Although it seems that there is only one truly great player today (Shohei Ohtani), I would rather watch the talk on the MLB Network than to see LaBron or Luka running down the court. Even Draymond Green calls the basketball boring. He is right. Baseball may be the most strategic sport. Every pitch has a purpose. I am still amazed that the outfielders can run at the crack of the bat, turn their backs to the infield, run to a spot and put up their glove and the ball lands in it. How do they do that? 

Basketball seems to be just running up and down the court, jacking up threes and slam dunks. I actually think basketball would be a better sport if it were four on four.

The spring training games start February 20^th with the Cubs playing the evil empire of the west, the Dodgers. There are two leagues, the Cactus League (Arizona) and the Grapefruit League (Florida) with 15 teams in each league. We always spend a week at Maderia Beach to watch the Rays play somebody (we chose the games based on the opponent). This year the question is whether we want to drive all the way across Tampa Bay to see the Rays play their regular season games at the Yankees spring ball park since the roof at the Trop got ripped off by Hurricane Milton. They got guaranteed funding for a new stadium in St Petersburg so they will not be moving to Tampa as was previously rumored.

Both of us once lived in Florida and hated it. And this was fifty years ago before the influx of millions into the state. I have dear friends who have lived in Florida ever since our days being assistant professors at the University of Florida. They retired to a peaceful neighborhood in the Sarasota area. They usually come see us when we camp at Maderia Beach. But last year because of failing health, we went to see them. We were appalled by the congestion. It was bumper to bumper traffic. The peaceful neighborhoods were all encroached by high rise condos and apartments. People actually blew their horns – must be Yankees. It was awful. I can’t imagine living there. My friends bemoaned the change. I remember saying that the two happiest days of my life were the day when I moved to Florida (from Columbus, Ohio) and the day I moved away.

We will also start going back to Cincinnati for a couple of times a year if they finally decide to field a major league team rather than the imposters who are triple A players wearing the major league uniform – with the except of Elly de la Cruz. They added Jose Trevino, Brady Singer, Taylor Rogers and most notably Gavin Lux so they should be better. Perhaps the best acquisition was Terry Francona as manager. Tito is a great manager with a great track record in Boston (despite the 2011 fried chicken fiasco) and Cleveland (my favorite American League club).

I am an Atlanta Braves fan although my fandom went down a few notches when they let Freddie Freeman go to the Evil Empire of the West where he was MVP of the World Series. The Braves also let Dansby Swanson go to the Cubs and haven’t been as strong at shortstop. Orlando Arcia has his moments but is probably just a place holder for phenoms Nacho Alverez or Jose Perdomo. They let Max Fried go to the Mets (its pronounced “freed” rather than “fried”). Charlie Morton is also gone. But they bring back Chris Sale – if he can stay healthy – Renaldo Lopez, and Spencer Strider (if he is healthy). Ronald Acuna, Jr is back (if he is healthy), along with Matt Olson at first base who replaced Freddie. Olson seems to alternate good and bad years, so this should be a good year. Austin Riley is back at third (provided he is healthy). Sean Murphy is catching (if he is healthy) having let Travis D’Arnaud go to the Evil Empire of the West.

If everyone stays healthy this time, the Braves have a legitimate chance to win the East and play the Dodgers in the World Series. The Evils added Blake Snell and bring back Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May and Tyler Glasnow. But the biggest addition to the pitching staff is the unbelievable Shohei Ohtani who might win the Cy Young, MVP and the triple crown in the same year. The Braves have a chance but honestly, the Dodgers are going to win it all – if they can stay healthy.

I had been planning to go to spring training this year but agreeing to return to UT to teach a class derailed those plans – as well as messing up my turkey season. But this is a one off and next year I’ll be back in the woods and also will go to spring training – if I can stay healthy.