With apologies to Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Locksley Hall”: Ah Spring, when a young man’s fancy turns to baseball! As with the love of a woman in Tennyson’s verse, baseball too brings the same hopes and dreams, the same expectations of enduring happiness, the same joy to my heart.
Spring is in the air; well at least it is in the southern and western states, but Illinois is getting a small taste of it. Major League Baseball’s training camps are in session. Players have been toiling under the warm sun of Florida and the high skies of Arizona. Hopes abound, both for the young men with a dream and the fans of all the franchises that didn’t quite win it all last year. That is the concept of spring training; everyone has a chance at this point, it’s a new beginning. Every young arm is under consideration, everyone has the potential to be a star hitter, or a defensive standout.
Of course reality is by March 20th, the Vernal Equinox arrives; the calendar start of spring when the managers will determine which if not most of the arms they want to take north, the position players will almost be set and the true hitters will have emerged. The dreaded words, “Optioned to” and “Released” begin appearing in print, sometimes with a familiar name, but most often with the name of a hopeful which didn’t quite make it this year. Approximately two weeks later Opening Day will divide the teams into undefeated and winless teams, with the rest of the season lying ahead. And that is the same with this blog, we have a taste of what will be and more will come. It is a new beginning!
Sit back and cheer for your team. Live and die with their victories and defeats. And join me right here for a glimpse into the way I see sports, not only baseball but much more.
~ Coach Mike
Spring is in the air; well at least it is in the southern and western states, but Illinois is getting a small taste of it. Major League Baseball’s training camps are in session. Players have been toiling under the warm sun of Florida and the high skies of Arizona. Hopes abound, both for the young men with a dream and the fans of all the franchises that didn’t quite win it all last year. That is the concept of spring training; everyone has a chance at this point, it’s a new beginning. Every young arm is under consideration, everyone has the potential to be a star hitter, or a defensive standout.
Of course reality is by March 20th, the Vernal Equinox arrives; the calendar start of spring when the managers will determine which if not most of the arms they want to take north, the position players will almost be set and the true hitters will have emerged. The dreaded words, “Optioned to” and “Released” begin appearing in print, sometimes with a familiar name, but most often with the name of a hopeful which didn’t quite make it this year. Approximately two weeks later Opening Day will divide the teams into undefeated and winless teams, with the rest of the season lying ahead. And that is the same with this blog, we have a taste of what will be and more will come. It is a new beginning!
Sit back and cheer for your team. Live and die with their victories and defeats. And join me right here for a glimpse into the way I see sports, not only baseball but much more.
~ Coach Mike
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