They’re Back!

They’re back!

No, no. Not the poltergeists. I hate horror, remember?

The Boys in Blue! They’re back!

The excitement has shifted to Arizona, where Dodgers pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training on Saturday. The first battery workout at Camelback Ranch-Glendale will be Sunday. Position players report next Thursday, with the first full-squad workout scheduled for Friday.

“Pitchers and catchers reported.”

Such a great phrase. And somehow, it never gets old.

I’ve been doing this for 25 years now, and it still gets to me. Every. Single. Time.

There’s something about the newness; the blank slate; the “starting over, yet steeped in tradition” duality of the game that hooks right into me, and just won’t let go.

And it’s contagious, apparently. Dominic and I spent the better part of the morning excitedly discussing the coming year — starting with the Dodgers, of course, but moving quickly from their pricey efforts at securing a championship to the prospects of the the entire league. (Conclusion: Mike Trout’s good. Really good.)

I know the gap between the World Series and Spring Training isn’t that large, and this year’s “P&C Reporting” comes even earlier than usual (given the Dodgers’ Australian experiment), yet it still seemed interminable to me.

But they’re back now. And that’s great.

Take it away, Ernie!

Attribution(s): “Baseballs” provided by Shutterstock.