Spring, Batta Batta, Spring

 Spring training is a beautiful time for baseball fans. It’s pure. It signals a new beginning. It lacks the corporate feel the regular season seems to choke us with. Maybe it’s because the bleachers are so close to the action. Maybe it’s because of the peculiarly cool, casual uniforms. Sometimes a player shows up with a newly formed gut. That’s always fun, because it reminds us that these guys getting paid millions to play a kids’ game are not unlike us after all. Spring training ushers in summer with the smell of freshly cut grass, the sound of a ball smacking leather, the taste of a ballpark hot dog and an ice-cold beer, and the sight of little boys carrying oversize mitts and grown men scribbling on scorecards. Yup, it’s time for baseball to reawaken. And it’s beautiful.

If you’re up for a drive, you can catch spring training fever at Roger Dean Stadium, as the hometown Florida Marlins take on their springtime nemesis, the Baltimore Orioles. First pitch is at 1:05.
Fri., Feb. 29, 1:05 p.m., 2008