Closer and Closer

Just getting myself ready for tomorrow night with this “little” long-distance number from the occasionally-healthy Hanley Ramirez:

OK, so that particular clip isn’t of something getting closer and closer. It’s of something getting really, really far away. Almost impossibly far. But baseball itself is getting closer and closer. For which I am deeply, almost frighteningly grateful.

You know what else is almost impossible?

This:

Tonight, the Dodgers announced that for the first time in franchise history, they will have sold 3 million tickets before the home Opening Day.

Sales of year-long season tickets ended up approaching the 35,000 mark. The extra season seats came out of what would have been day-of-game sales.

Yep. Before the home opener. BEFORE.

I cannot wait for baseball to start. I feel like I’m hanging on by my fingernails here, and have been for the last few months. Ironically, “hanging on” is particularly hard at the moment given that my shoulder’s still sore from throwing an hour or two of batting practice during our local Little League Skills Night. The entire time, I was thinking to myself: “Man, I love baseball.” And I was throwing to Dominic, the First Son, whose excitement to get back into the baseball swing is even greater then mine. And who has surprisingly soft hands, all the better with which to make his Old Man look good. Both facts that make me very, very happy.

Take it away, Ernie!

Attribution(s): Photos courtesy of Getty Images, which allows the use of certain images “as long as the photo is not used for commercial purposes (meaning in an advertisement or in any way intended to sell a product, raise money, or promote or endorse something).”