Yesterday was the first official day of spring. But here in Goodyear, it's been spring for 39 days and counting.
Frankly, I'm ready for summer.
With that notion in mind, I'm going to recharge the batteries over the next few days, and that means the blog is getting a blow, as well. We'll meet back here on Thursday.
In the meantime...
EXCRUCIATING MINUTIA OF THE DAY...
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The Indians, iffy in the rotation, have to be encouraged by Anthony Reyes' spring. Not only has he avoided any trouble with that right elbow, but his ERA is now a miniscule 0.75 after his fourth outing today. He went five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits with two strikeouts.
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Kind of figured this all along, but I can't help but doubt Jeremy Sowers wins the fifth starting job. He's just far too inconsistent.
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Mark DeRosa will start at first base for Team USA in Sunday's semifinal game against Japan. The game is at 8 p.m. ET.
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DeRosa is 5-for-15 with a homer and seven RBIs in five Classic games. "I've played exceedingly more than I expected," DeRosa said. "I think I'm far ahead, as at-bats are concerned."
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Shin-Soo Choo has flown all over the world to collect one hit thus far. He's 1-for-10 with a walk and two strikeouts in five games.
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Nice to see a sellout at Goodyear Ballpark. Although, a good chunk of the crowd was clogging up the concourse for the majority of the game, because it was too hot to sit in the seats.
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Words of wisdom from Bob Feller: "The easiest bet in Vegas is the winner of the Grapefruit League and Cactus League titles won't win the World Series. The St. Louis Browns used to always win [in Spring Training], and those were the only games they ever won."
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More words of wisdom from Bob Feller: "What do you do when you can't hit a curveball? Get a typewriter." Yep, here I am.
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OK, one last note from Rapid Robert. He told a story about long-ago Indians first baseman Lew Fonseca. Feller said Fonseca told him that in 1929 he held out all winter and all spring before finally signing his contract on Opening Day. Fonseca missed batting practice that day and had a nice game. The next day, he skipped it again and had another nice game. So Fonseca began skipping it every day, all year. He went on to hit .369 and win the AL batting title that season. "So much for Spring Training," Feller said. Amen to that.
~AC
