The Start of Something Great

Do you know what today is?
Do you know what's going on today?
Of course you do.

Today is the day when boys,
and men with boys' hearts,
gather by the hundreds
in places like Clearwater,
and Mesa, and Surprise,
and Fort Myers,
to participate in baseball activities.

They're perfecting their changeups,
and bunts,
and double-plays.
They're practicing covering first,
and running down flies,
and knocking the ball out of the park.

They're breaking in new gloves,
and new shoes,
and new routines.
They're greeting old friends,
and making new ones.
They're preparing their bodies
and minds for the new season.

And they're bringing their dreams.
Dreams as fresh as the grass beneath their feet
and as optimistic as the sun on their faces.
And their dreams may vary in the details
-- some dream of winning it all,
while some dream of making the big team --
their dreams are essentially the same.
They dream of besting the competition:
the other teams,
the other players on their teams,
themselves.

And their fans are dreaming too.
On this day, we all have a small voice
that says "this is the year."

So our boys practice,
and play,
and prepare.
They'll bat,
and throw,
and catch.
And they'll make their fans very happy to see them.

Good luck boys.
Work hard and have fun.
The best is yet to come.

~~~
I wrote this poem about three years ago, so if you've been here for awhile, you might recognize it. I'm replaying it because I like it. Besides, I can't think of a better way to celebrate the start of Spring Training than with a hopeful poem.

Beers All Around!

I have piece about Fransico Liriano half written. It talks about his struggles, and how he walks everybody, and how he and the coaches can't line up, blah, blah, blah. Well, all that may still be true, but I don't care -- not tonight. I'm shelving it because Liriano just no-hit the White Sox. It's Francisco's day, but for all the right reasons!

I've always been a huge fan of wonderful pitching, but when it's my guy, it's an amazing event. I can't even tell you how nervous I was for those last two innings; I'm not sure if I'll be able to sleep tonight. Add to it the pressure that was a 1-0 game. Plus, that was some great defense behind him to save the game. Impressive!

Sure, he had six walks. Sure, it took 123 pitches. Sure, the White Sox are pretty sucky right now. None of that matters. Fransico threw a freaking no-hitter, and he and fans should celebrate! And this comes at a time when the team and its fans were at their lowest. Call it a bit of a stimulus package. Hopefully all these good vibes carry forward.

As fine as Frankie did, it takes a whole-team effort to pull off something this special: Butera for calling a good game and helping Frankie keep his wits, Denard Span for making a nice play in the outfield, Danny Valencia for making an incredible play, Justin Morneau for making a couple nice outs, Jason Kubel for hitting that homer for the only run Frankie needed...and so on.

So, Minnesota Twins, I'd like to buy you all a beer.

~~~

Unfortunately, there's some DL news too. Jim Thome is on the DL with an oblique strain. Sounds like Jason Repko will be placed on it too with a strained quad (I think). I saw on Twitter that Trevor Plouffe and Ben Revere are being recalled from AAA. Paper dolls and more info tomorrow.

Welcome Back, Baseball!

Oh, hello boys. It's so nice to see you again. It's been a while.

Oh, how I've missed watching you and your bloops, blasts, frozen ropes, seeing eyes, and dying quails. I've missed your sliders, changes, fireballs, and uncle Charlies.

I'm happy to see you take the mound, cover the gap, protect the line, turn two, and cover the bag. I'm happy to see you step in, protect the plate, work the count, beat the shift, hit and run, lay one down, and beat it out.

It's great when you don't miss it, get all of it, and put good wood on it (even if I hate that phrase). It's great when you set down the side, get them looking, and fool them.

I love your quality starts, holds, and saves. I love your squeeze plays, three-baggers, sacrifices, and taters. I love your rundowns, cannon shots, and web gems.

So, now that you're back at the ballpark, and back on my TV, I sincerely say "Welcome back; I've missed you; it's been a long winter."

A Very Good, Amazing, Wonderful Weekend

Recap:
Friday -- Twins 4 - White Sox 3
Saturday -- Twins 2  - White Sox 1
Sunday -- Twins 4 - White Sox 5

Twins take series 2-1

So, it's always nice to take a series from a division rival. It would have been nice to get to Mark Buehrle and beat him, but alas, it wouldn't be. And yes, I'm still steamed at third-base coach Scott Ullger. I mean, I know you play to win on the road, but seriously? The shortstop had the ball when Ullger sent Hardy. ::shaking my head::

But anyway, it was a great weekend. Actually, it was better than great; it was fantastic!

Saturday
Apparently, when I go out to bars, I go all out...once again, two really fun Twins-themed parties in one day.

First, for the game, I attended the TwinsCentric viewing party at Major's in Blaine, hosted by Nick Nelson (Nick's Twins Blog), Parker Hageman (Over the Baggy), John Bonnes (Twins Geek), and Seth Stohs (Sethspeaks.net). As before, it was a ton a fun to chat about baseball, the Twins, and blogging. It was even more fun that the Twins won (imagine what happened when a barfull of more-avid-than-average Twins fans watched Kubes smash that homer).

I hesitate to name drop, because I know I'll forget someone, because that's what it is to be me. But I'll try. If I forgot someone, please gently remind me.

• Aaron Gleeman 
• Sooze! and Marea from Babes Love Baseball and their friend Seth
• KL and CapitalBabs from Knuckleballs
• Topper Anton from Curve for a Strike (making a surprise appearance from New York)
• Andrew from Off the Mark
• Betsy from For the Love of the Game
• Jack Steal from Fanatic Jack Talks Twins
• Emily from Chatter From The Cheap Seats
• Reverend Michele
• Aaron, who had a cool "What Would Joe Do" t-shirt
• I know there were more... ugh.

It was a great time visiting with all those great fans. I just love these events.

Oh, and yes, I brought those brownies. And again, they were a hit, but never again! Oh, I don't even want to get into it...sticky, me covered in chocolate, swearing, frightening my son, running late, more sticky, more chocolate, more swearing, etc.

And Then...
I headed over to Rock Bottom Brewery downtown to watch the Biggest Twins Fan competition. John from Twins MVB was a finalist, and Jen (Lipgloss and Baseball) and Sarah (Oh, It's THOSE Girls) were live-tweeting the event. I'm a little bummed that I arrived too late to see TC Bear, but it was great. Click on Sarah's link to see her awesome report with pictures.

The contest was a hoot. The four contestants had to complete 9-innings worth of trivia, stunts, and crazy math problems. Rock Bottom did a nice job hosting the event.

Friday 
(Ok, I know I'm doing this in reverse order, but this one's the best part.) On Friday evening, my husband surprised me with tickets for ... get this ... OPENING FREAKING DAY!!! He doesn't even want to go -- well he wouldn't mind going, but someone needs to give the kids rides to and from practices, and he's willing to do that while I go. So I'm bringing my mom. This is amazing! There's no way I'm going to be able to sleep tonight. I'm so excited, I can barely stand to be in the same room as myself!

Short Notes - Apr 6

Happy Opening Day! I know, I know, it was officially yesterday, but since the second Twins game hasn't started yet (as I write this), it's still a valid greeting.

I'm so happy it's real baseball with real consequences and real results. Happy happy happy.

~~~~

So, in case you haven't been here during the regular season, or in case you forgot, let me explain how I do things. I usually save my thoughts about the games until after the whole series and then do a recap -- unless something special motivates me to write, like Jason Kubel hitting a homerun on my command. Of course, when the final game of the series is a late one and there's a game the very next day, like with this upcoming Angels series finale, it gets difficult.

This is because I absolutely refuse to blog while a Twins game is on. It's not that I'm so in to the games that I can't multi-task; it's that it happens to be very bad, horrible luck for the Twins. Turns out, I can't even so much as think about blogging without risking disastrous performances by our boys. For example, you'll notice in that Jason Kubel post I referenced above, I talk about a ninth inning clown show. That's when the Twins bullpen coughed up buttload of runs in the 9th (after leading by 9 or 10 runs or something like that), and it's all because I was writing while the game was going on. True story. I won't let it happen again. And, yes, I'm really that superstitious -- probably even more.

So I'd better get going here; tonight's game is going to start soon.

~~~

Happy Birthday Bert Blyleven. Only 365 more days until your next one.

~~~

You'll notice a new little section in the upper-right corner. I love all the cool, crazy words and sayings baseball offers, so I thought I'd feature a new term every week -- that is, if I remember to do a new one every week.

~~~

So hey, my blog's all grown up. I went out and got it its very own domain name...

kbrobaseball.blogspot.com proudly presents...

www.kbrobaseball.com

Ta da!

Ok, it's not really that big of a deal. If you go there, you just wind up here. And the blogspot.com address still works, so you don't have to change your bookmarks or blogroll or anything if you don't want to.

But, when you're telling all your friends about me, won't the new name be easier to remember?

~~~

Podcast updates - some news on my favorite podcasts.

New! DW the Great of Twin-Keys and Joe Bronk of Joe's Little Big League started the Twin-Keys podcast a few weeks ago. Be sure to check it out. In fact, about 5 minutes ago, I agreed to be a guest tomorrow at 7. So now you really need to check it out.

New! Bloggers Julie DiCaro from A League of Her Own (a Cubs blog) and Caryn Rose from Metsgrrl (a Mets blog) started the Throwing Like a Girl podcast to discuss baseball from a girl's perspective. Check it out, because our friend Jen from Lipgloss and Baseball was a guest on their first episode.

Improved! I've mentioned this before, but it deserves repeating. Seth Stohs (SethSpeaks.net) started a zippy new web-radio program called The Show with Seth Stohs (try saying that five times fast). As always, it's good stuff. I have only one eensy, weesny complaint: Dude, when are you going to put it on iTunes? Anyway, it accessible through his site.

[EDIT (4/7 9:00 AM) -- This happened after I wrote this last night, and I just found out about it this morning.]
New! Seth Stohs and Travis Aune (Travis Twins Talks) have teamed up to produce the Twins Minor League Weekly. Both Seth and Travis are excellent resources on prospect information; this podcast will be great for everyone who want to keep up on the farm system. The first episode was posted on Seth Speaks Blog Talk Radio program, but they indicated that might set up a new link for future episodes. I'll let you know as soon as I know.

Is This Gonna Be Great or What?

Ok, so I'm sitting here, and first pitch is just about to happen. I'm so excited, I just agreed to allow my son to get a tattoo of the Twins logo if they win the World Series. And I promise that I'll follow through with it, too.

So I think it'll be a good year. It'll certainly be an interesting division race. None of the so-called experts can agree with their predictions on how the teams will end up. I've heard predictions that the Twins will be anywhere from first to fourth. I've also heard predictions that any of the five teams (even the Royals) will win the division. I know what I predict....

Oh, and Morneau was soo safe!

It'll also be interesting to see if Joe Crede turns out to be the "missing piece" everyone says he is. I'll give him a month or so before I bestow him with any nicknames or anything.

Crappola, the Mariners scored. Ok Franchise, settle down.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Bert! Let's hope you get what you want -- it's what all of Twins Territory wants -- a Twins win.

I'm excited because I've already got one baseball road trip planned. I hold in my hands...tickets to see the Cardinals host the Twins (ok, I don't literally have them in my hands -- it would be awfully hard to type if did -- but I do have them in my possession). I'm really looking forward to that. I've been to St. Louis before, and I like it.

Oh come on Cuddy! Why did you take that pitch?

I'm also excited because I have tickets for the final regular season game in the Dome. I stress regular season because there is always the chance for playoff games, and I don't have tickets for those yet.

AAAARRRGGGHHHH! I guess Griffey's still got it. Rats!

No no no no no no no no no .... Red-Dog... please be ok ... please be ok ... please be ok. Whew, it looks like he's all right. And, with that, all is right wil the world. It seems that it's mandated somewhere in Baseball Olympus that Redmond must get beat up when he plays. Man he's tough, but if Joey doesn't get back soon, there isn't going to be anything left of him.

Crap, crap, crap. Torii would've caught that. Ok boys, now it's time to put some runs on the board.

So apparently, the Twins batters have taken Jim Souhan's Sunday article to heart. Jim said that games are too slow because batters work the count. But this swinging at the first pitch and grounding out isn't doing anybody any good either. So, guys, take a pitch, work the count; let's get into their bullpen, shall we?

*sigh* Well this turned out way uglier than I would've liked. I mean, seriously, getting beat by the lowly Mariners?

Oh well. The beauty of Opening Day is that I can delude myself into believing that it's only one game and it'll still be a great season. It is great to have baseball back.

The Start of Something Great

Do you know what today is?
Do you know what's going on today?
Of course you do.

Today is the day when boys,
and men with boys' hearts,
gather by the hundreds
in places like Clearwater,
and Mesa, and Surprise,
and Fort Myers,
to participate in baseball activities.

They're perfecting their changeups,
and bunts,
and double-plays.
They're practicing covering first,
and running down flies,
and knocking the ball out of the park.

They're breaking in new gloves,
and new shoes,
and new routines.
They're greeting old friends,
and making new ones.
They're preparing their bodies
and minds for the new season.

And they're bringing their dreams.
Dreams as fresh as the grass beneath their feet
and as optimistic as the sun on their faces.
And their dreams may vary in the details
-- some dream of winning it all,
while some dream of making the big team --
their dreams are essentially the same.
They dream of besting the competition:
the other teams,
the other players on their teams,
themselves.

And their fans are dreaming too.
On this day, we all have a small voice
that says "this is the year."

So our boys practice,
and play,
and prepare.
They'll bat,
and throw,
and catch.
And they'll make their fans very happy to see them.

Good luck boys.
Work hard and have fun.
The best is yet to come.

It's the Break; How We Doin'?

I'm sitting here with my laptop watching the All Star Game and thinking about the first half of the season. So I'll tear a page from, well, just about everybody's, blog and review.

At the beginning of the season, I had some expectations and hopes. Let's see how it's going so far:

• I expect to get choked up when they introduce Torii tonight. [Yeah, I kinda did. Then I got over it really fast.]


• I expect that Joe Mauer will take the first pitch to him tonight. [Actually, I think he fouled it off.]


• I expect that Joe Mauer will take the first pitch to him every night. [I don't think he really does that as much as he used to. Or, if he does, it's working out better for him. At any rate, it's not making me crazy like it used to.]


• I expect that Carlos Gomez will make me wildly happy sometime this season. [Check.]


• I expect that Carlos Gomez will make me wildly angry sometime this season. [And, check.]


• I expect that Joe Nathan will give me a near mental breakdown sometime this season. [Yeah, that whole walking the bases loaded with one out in Detroit just the other day pretty much made me whimper, that is until he struck out the final two batters and got out of it.]


• I expect that Joe Nathan will appear to have a near mental breakdown sometime this season. [I didn't really go out on a limb here, did I?]


• I expect that I will be pleasantly surprised by one of the new guys this year. [Wow, definitely more than one -- Alexi, Blackburn, Span, Korecky, and even Harris.]


• I expect that I will be profoundly annoyed by one of the new guys this year. [Hello? Mr. Lamb and Mr. Young? Are you there?]


• I expect that the roster at the end of the season will look quite a bit different
  than today's roster. [Actually, aside from the Korecky-for-Rincon switch, all the new faces have been fill ins for injuries -- so far.]

• I hope that there are more good games than bad. [So far, so good. Eleven games over .500 and 1 1/2 games out of first. I'd say so.]


• I hope that the guys have fun and encourage each other. [And this is why I love this team, and I think it's the secret to their success. As long as they have fun, they seem to do well.]


• I hope this year goes a long way to building a strong core that has a bright future. [Many of the young guys are looking good.]


• I hope the Twins surprise some people. [Um, yeah. Keep it up guys!]

So, boys, so far this year, I'm having a whole bunch of fun watching you. Please keep it up; I want to keep having a whole bunch of fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So I'm watching the All Star Game and wondering why so many players are wearing white shoes. Did the A's equipment manager break in to the clubhouse?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Five Guys Outta My League (and One In)

It’s pretty clear that I love the Twins. But to be precise, I should phrase it as, “I love baseball and the Twins are my team.” And as much as I love our guys, I’m not ashamed to admit that I have crushes on other guys too. Now, I’m not suggesting that anyone replaces any of our guys; there are just other guys I would like to see more often.

Here are six guys who have captured my imagination for one reason or another.

Johan Santana - SP, Mets: Ok, yes. I miss him. Fortunately, I’m over being bitter about losing him (I think). He still has that devastating changeup. He still makes very good batters swing funny. I miss his butt wiggle. I miss his confident strut when he strikes someone out. You’ve got to admit that no one else looks as good as he does when he pitches. And even though he’s off to a bit of a slow start this year (which is typical for him), he’s still very good at what he does.

Micah Owings - SP/PH, D-backs: This guy totally embodies everything that’s cool about the National League. He’s a starting pitcher with solid numbers. But he’s also a good hitter. In fact, he’s a good enough hitter that they confidently ask him to pinch-hit, with good results. Last month, he hit a pinch-hit walk-off three-run blast to the opposite field. He’s tied for second behind Livan Hernandez for three-hit games among active pitchers. Livan’s been pitching 12 years; Micah has been less than two. How cool is that? And he’s not so bad to look at either.

Matt Holliday - LF, Rockies: I developed a crush on him during the playoffs and World Series last year. First of all, he’s pretty darned good-looking, especially when he smiles. But he’s also a great player. He was second in voting for the National League MVP last year, and won the Silver Slugger last year and the year before.

Chipper Jones – 3B, Braves: He’s 36 years old, and it’s fun to see him doing so well. He recently hit his 400th homerun, and he’s batting above .400. I don’t know if he’ll be able to finish the season above .400, but it’s sure fun to see if he will. And he’s handling all the attention like a class act. But the great thing is that he’s always been good. Braves fans are very lucky to have him around. He’s been banged up lately; everyone hopes he’ll be ok again soon. And, yes, I think he’s good looking, in a regular-guy kind of way (except for this year’s official MLB photo – I wonder what he had on his mind at that exact moment to take such an awful picture).

Geovany Soto – C, Cubs: Probably one of the top defensive catchers in the National League, he’s really making a name for himself this season. It seems like he hits a homerun every day, but he says that catching is his main priority. And he’s young – only 25 – so he’s got a great future in front of hime. I don’t know if he’ll win the Rookie of the Year, but I wouldn’t count him out. Oh, and Sports Illustrated recently had an article on him with a picture of him looking very good. Mmmm.

Jonathan Papelbon – RP, Red Sox: As a closer, he’s almost as good as Joe Nathan – very good and very reliable. He really shined in the playoffs last year. However, if the Red Sox wanted him to be a starter, he’d do it, which shows how versatile he is. But I really like him because I think it’s absolutely adorable when, as he’s looking into the catcher for the sign, he purses his lips like he’s blowing bubbles. Cute.

Who's In Charge? (My Take on Instant Replay in Baseball)

MLB is considering implementing instant replay to assist with questionable homerun calls, and plans are to give it a try in the Arizona Fall League. Last December during the Winter Meetings, the General Managers voted 25-5 in favor of recommending it for "boundary calls". Everyone is talking about it again now because of a couple of so-called "blown" calls in the New York market (it's questionable whether there would be the ado if they had happened here in fly-over country). And because those calls have been replayed over and over in a 24/7 barrage, many will insist that everyone continues to talk about it.

While I'm not really against instant replay in these particular cases -- we all know of times when legitimate home runs were ruled as foul balls because the umpires couldn't tell which side of the foul pole the ball flew past -- I'm not a fan of the path that allowing any instant replay goes down. If this happens, it would be the first time that technology is allowed to actually change the game rather than merely enhance it.

Because virtually every game is televised, players today use replays to scout opponents or improve their own game. However, when he's between the lines, a player still must make his pitches or put the bat on the ball all by himself. Improving the performance of the individual athletes is a far different matter than forcing the game to conform to a television-ruled world with its all-mighty dollar. Baseball fans are already subjected to goofy start times and elongated half-inning changeovers because of the demands of television advertising.

Baseball itself isn't well suited to allow technology to dictate outcomes because it seems to celebrate its own quirkiness. This is a game that doesn't even want a clock to tell everyone when the game is over. Heck, there aren't even standards for the size or shape of the field of play as long as the bases are 90 feet apart and the pitcher's mound is 60 feet 6 inches away from home. And nothing happens unless human umpires or scorekeepers say it does (ball or strike? pitch or balk? safe or out? hit or error? fair or foul?). So forcing a drastic change in the way a game is called, simply because fans can second-guess the calls the next morning, seems counter-intuitive.

Adorable

Twins 7 - The Team That Calls Itself World Champions 3
Twins take series 3-1

So, most of us had a choice last night. What did you decide? The ESPN yahoos or our lovable Dick-n-Bert? Me? I chose Dick-n-Bert. I guess I just like familiarity. And I think I made a good choice. Did ESPN show shots of Boof unraveling a baseball? I doubt it. But our guys stuck with the story until conclusion and Boof got to the core of the matter.

---

Up until the seventh, Boof's unwrapping adventure was the most adorable moment of the game. Then Cuddy did his little juggling magic trick pulling a baseball out of his hat. That play will probably be the most adorable moment of the whole season. And Dick laughing about it was almost as adorable.

---

In fact, the whole game was pretty much adorable. Coming from behind is adorable. Stringing hits together for runs is adorable. And even though giving up three runs in the first isn't so much adorable, settling down and not allowing any more might be. However, catching a screaming liner and stinging your hand is adorable. And, in a weird way, watching the opposing pitcher throw a temper tantrum is adorable. In fact, in honor of all the adorableness, I'll post this adorable picture.

---

It seems that Livan likes the pixie vests - he's two for two at home with them. I guess if he keeps getting these results, I'll get used to them.

---

A non-adorable moment was when Delmon rolled his ankle running the basepaths. Fortunately, it doesn't sound like it's too serious. I hope he'll be fine.

---

And finally, the "even though it happened to a division rival, it's still really cool" moment of the day: Last night, Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians completed an unassisted triple play. It's like only the 14th in major league history. Pretty groovy.

Expectations

No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference. ~Tommy Lasorda

It's here! It's finally, actually, really here! I am absolutely thrilled that a new season is finally here.

Someone asked me what the season is going to be like, and I said, "Well, different." And I meant it in the best possible sense. I am optimistic that, even though it may not be the best year, it's still going to be a great year. Now I'm not sure if my optimism is coming from my glee that I get to watch baseball again, or that this season really feels like a fresh start - a fresh, and maybe a bit scary, start.

Now I tend to shy away from making predictions. I find that when I do so, it tends to have a jinxing effect. However, I do have a few general expectations for both tonight and the whole season:

• I expect to get choked up when they introduce Torii tonight.
  
• I expect that Joe Mauer will take the first pitch to him tonight.
  
• I expect that Joe Mauer will take the first pitch to him every night.


• I expect that Carlos Gomez will make me wildly happy sometime this season.


• I expect that Carlos Gomez will make me wildly angry sometime this season.


• I expect that Joe Nathan will give me a near mental breakdown sometime this season.


• I expect that Joe Nathan will appear to have a near mental breakdown sometime this season.


• I expect that I will be pleasantly surprised by one of the new guys this year.


• I expect that I will be profoundly annoyed by one of the new guys this year.


• I expect that the roster at the end of the season will look quite a bit different than today's roster.

Though I know better than to ask for too much, I do have some hopes for this year:

• I hope that there are more good games than bad.


• I hope that the guys have fun and encourage each other.


• I hope this year goes a long way to building a strong core that has a bright future.


• I hope the Twins surprise some people.

I wish I was going to the game tonight, but it didn't work out. However, I'll be making the best of it in front of the TV (hot dogs and nachos for dinner tonight and crackerjacks for dessert).

PLAY BALL!

Poetic License?

If you haven't seen this yet, you've got to check it out! Startribune.com sent a video producer to Spring Training. And with haikus written by Howard's readers, the boys had a little fun.

My favorite is definitely Cuddy. He looks really comfortable in front of a camera reading a script. Hmmm...future in broadcasting maybe? (Duh) He's certainly handsome enough.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

"Don't tell me about the world. Not today. It's springtime and they're knocking baseball around fields where the grass is damp and green in the morning and the kids are trying to hit the curve ball." ~Pete Hamill

Ahhh. It's been cold; it's been dark; it's been long; and now it's over. The off-season, and by association winter, ends today. Of course, winter's not really over - I can go outside and figure that out quickly. But the cold, dark nothingness of baseball-lessness is finally over.

I spent the weekend doing some baseball-related things that really brightened my mood. I took my son shopping for a new bat (didn't buy one - he's still deciding), and we watched "Everybody's Hero" (OK movie - really little kids would probably like it). And I followed the reports of spring training on the web. Getting ready for a new baseball season, whether it is the pros or youth-ball, makes me almost giddy.

Now I have a healthy respect for other sports. I watch, understand, and enjoy football, but it doesn't have my heart. I have a great time whenever I attend Wild games. Basketball - well, let's just say it's not for me. And since both my boys wrestle, I do enjoy watching that.

But I love baseball. And there are several reasons:

It's human. There are no clocks. There are no chains. There is no instant-replay (yet - and there better not ever be). Each event requires a decision by a human umpire. Ball or strike? Pitch or balk? Fair or foul? Even with a routine grounder, the ball can beat the baserunner to first by 40 feet, but he's not out until the umpire calls him out. Even when I disagree with an umpire, I wouldn't have it any other way.

It's relaxed. Another benefit of no clock is that there's no equivalent of a play clock. I believe there is some rule that states that the pitcher must throw a pitch within 12 second of becoming set, but I don't think there's one about when he has to become set. So the game takes as long as it takes, and it's done when it's done. And if you want to, you have plenty of time to write down everything that happens. Which is very cool.

It's easy. From my favorite movie: "A good friend of mine used to say, ‘This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.' Think about that for a while." ~ Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh.

It's hard. The cliché is that there is nothing harder to do in all of sports than hit a round ball with a round bat. And I believe it. But it's also got to be hard to throw a 90 mph pitch with enough precision to prevent the hitter from hitting it. And if someone does hit it, diving all over the place or crashing into walls can't be a walk in the park.

It's complicated. For starters, there are 23 ways to get to first base. And every rule seems to have at least two "excepts" or "unlesses". How cool is it that a foul ball is a strike, unless the batter has two strikes already, in which case it's just a foul ball, unless it's a foul tip to the catcher's glove, in which case it's a strikeout, except if the catcher drops it. You'd better keep up.

It's different. Most other team games have a goal that requires defending, so they're all basically the same - one team tries to take the ball/puck to the opponent's goal, and the other team tries to stop them. Ho hum. Not so with baseball. "Baseball is the only major sport that appears backwards in a mirror." ~George Carlin

What's not to love? And I am so ready for it to start.