Can you feel that? Is that the feeling of democracy? Is that freedom? No, it’s spring training. As the calendar turns to February and the football season climaxes finally, all eyes turn to Arizona and Florida, anticipating baseball’s long-awaited return.
Think, for just a beautiful second, and you can see it all unfolding—the sprinklers are pattering across the outfield, the Beemers are pulling into the parking lot, the first mitts are popping in poofs of dust. Lanky pitchers with too-high jersey numbers are loping along the warning track and overweight coaches are stretching into breathable mesh. The L-screen is being pulled out from the storage shed and somebody spills a bucket of balls onto the infield for the first time.
After months of looking back on the Giants’ improbable Series win, it’s finally time to thaw out from the winter doldrums and spin it forward, to the essential things to watch in spring training 2011…