MLB Spring Training Report

I hope to someday actually go and hang out for Spring Training for a week and watch a bunch teams play.  Dare to dream.  In the meantime, I caught a little bit on TV.  I’d like to go ahead and take this opportunity to congratulate the MLB on their TV package for this season.  Thanks to Fox, there will be no more over-the-air national, afternoon regular season broadcasts, just a smattering of Saturday night games.  I’ll go ahead and make a prediction about those games: Yankees vs. Red Sox, Red Sox vs. Yankees, and Dodgers vs. Whoever.  Way to go MLB!  Continue to complain about sagging post-season ratings as your broadcast partners marginalize your International product into a regional one.  At this rate, I’ll be blogging Mexican League soccer matches during the summer.

Ahem.

My highlight of this spring has got to be Russell Wilson attending the Rangers’ camp.  That was well worth the use of one of their Rule 5 picks just to get him there.  That had to be a great promotion for the team and an inspiration for the players to have the quarterback of the current Superbowl champion, Seattle Seahawks, there.  I got to see Peter Gammons’ great interview with him, and Wilson, whom I really didn’t know anything about, came off really well.  I had no idea the guy played against Buster Posey and other future big leaguers while he was in college.  Wilson really seemed to be enjoying himself out there training and taking infield. 

Late last season Cubs’ broadcasts were heavily promoting their new Arizona spring training facility opening this year.  I caught a little of a game there and did a double take.  I’m not going to say it looks just like Wrigley Field, but it’s a good approximation.  The brick wall behind home plate is a dead ringer.  While there aren’t bleachers in the outfield, the grassy hill and full crowd, easily had the same look to it.  There were proper bullpens out there too.  I’d almost think of this as a test remodel of Wrigley.  Given the amount of trouble they’re having just changing the scoreboard (and I too am against it), I wouldn’t bet on it happening.

I saw the Dodgers early in training.  There was their number two starter, Zack Greinke, out there on the mound for his first game.  “Ow, oww,” he said, clutching his leg.  “I think I pulled something.  I’m sure I’ll be out for a while and won’t get to take that 20 hour flight to Australia, but it’ll be fine right before the season starts.”  

Meanwhile the team hands Clayton Kershaw one of the biggest contracts ever, completely forgetting his last appearance, where he got shelled in the playoffs.  Yeah, he was started on short rest, I know.  That’s a management problem, and the team fixed it by giving Mattingly an extension.  Oh, and Kershaw’s currently injured, and will miss his next scheduled start.  Oh, and then there’s Yasiel Puig, 26 pounds heavier, minor trouble with the law in the offseason, and still a bonehead on the field.  Frighteningly, all of these star players could suck this season, and there’s still enough talent on the team to carry them into the playoffs (not to mention any in-season trades).

I was pleased to see the Giants in beautiful AT&T Park last week having an exhibition series against the A’s.  There was a great crowd and the warm, pleasant voice of Jon Miller was calling game.  It was perfect.  Some unfamiliar player was there at Third Base.  OMG!  That’s Pablo Sandoval!  He’s about 100 lbs lighter.  Did he have chemotherapy over the winter?  Thankfully, I wasn’t watching Friday night when Tim Lincecum took one off his knee, likely officially ending whatever slim chances the Giant’s had this year.

I was watching the Dodgers playing the Angels that night, however, in Dodger Stadium.  I might be favoring the Dodgers in this contest, only because I hate the Angels more.  The big in-game news was Mike Trout getting a big contract extension.  Look for a dramatic drop in performance.  The big out of game baseball news was that the MLB and the Players’ Union just stiffened the penalties and increased testing for PED’s.  Also, anybody suspended would not be eligible for the post-season or any post-season earnings for that year.  That might actually be a deterrent. 

At one point in the coverage, the camera started shaking and had trouble focusing on the field.  Vin Sculley, God bless him, would then calmly tell the viewers that they had just experienced an earthquake there in Los Angles.  “It’s a fairly common occurrence here.  Everything seems okay.  The count’s two and two.”  He then went on to relate a story about the Earthquake Series.  This was not an insignificant earthquake.  It just happened to not knock over any buildings.  And Vin, noted the event and kept calling the game.  From now on whenever there’s a crisis, I want Vin there doing the commentary.