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You Know What's Awesome About Pitchers And Catchers?

Tiny by Jeff on in Regular News

Nothing.

I've never understood why so many people look forward to this. Give me games.

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BJ Ryan
has been throwing with his surgically repaired arm for about a week.

Yet it's news when all the other pitchers in the league show up on today to do the same.

I'm Gomez and I write about many things.

by Gomez on Feb 13, 2008 11:19 AM PST   0 recs

I respectfully disagree
It's not the action of pitchers and catchers reporting that is exciting to me. It's knowing that real baseball is just a month and a half away! =)

by seattlebruin on Feb 13, 2008 11:22 AM PST   0 recs

but how is that any different than yesterday?
To me, it's like celebrating a vacation that I'm going to take 6 weeks from now. Doesn't many any sense.

by Matthew on Feb 13, 2008 11:30 AM PST to parent up   0 recs

It's like a simple landmark on the way to
something good. Just like running a marathon - x down y to go!

by seattlebruin on Feb 13, 2008 11:44 AM PST to parent up   0 recs

its more like
getting excited about a vacation when you start to pack...

unless you take vacations that are ~6 months long... if you do, i am incredibly jealous

by thenatural on Feb 13, 2008 1:00 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

It's like
mile 20 of a marathon. Almost there

by InSpokane on Feb 13, 2008 11:24 AM PST   0 recs

it's no different then
mile 19.9 or 20.1 though

by Matthew on Feb 13, 2008 11:28 AM PST to parent up   0 recs

Mile 20 =
"I have another hour of this? Are you shitting me?"

by Matthew on Feb 13, 2008 11:31 AM PST to parent up   0 recs

yeah :)
I wish it were another hour I reall cant break 9.5 min when I run that far.

by InSpokane on Feb 13, 2008 12:06 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

What is this mile 20.
Is that a new phrase for 30 feet? Because I'll be damned if I do 20 miles of anything and not be done.
...and now I'm here

by Librocrat on Feb 13, 2008 12:09 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

I've driven as much as 900 miles in a day,
but since that basically involves sitting in a car listening to heavy metal for 14 hours, it's not that hard.

by Llewdor on Feb 13, 2008 12:30 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Yeah, 900 miles is about 14 hours.
However, I did 920 miles in 11 hours last summer. You do the math. Remember, that is average speed, including stops at 0 mph.

;)

by Wilder83 on Feb 13, 2008 2:49 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Years ago I was talking to a friend of mine
that had run in a marathon.  The moment the words "toe nail turned black and fell off" came out of her mouth I knew that it would be a cold day in hell before I ever ran in a marathon.

by ningwers on Feb 13, 2008 12:15 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

In the beginning...
There were pitchers and catchers.

by BlueBaron on Feb 13, 2008 11:30 AM PST   0 recs

You're no baseball fan...
...if you don't understand the significance of Pitchers & Catchers day.

Get out from behind that Excel spreadsheet!

Ill Ligitamus Non Carberendum

by PositivePaul on Feb 13, 2008 11:30 AM PST   0 recs

Per Geoff Baker
Erik Bedard will start opening day.  Felix is okay with it.  I'm liking Bedard's interviews already.  "Don't see why everyone makes a big deal about opening day." - Bedard.

by ThundaPC on Feb 13, 2008 11:35 AM PST   0 recs

This is an inconvenience
See, now I have to go to the first TWO games so I can see Felix's first start and Opening Day

by I'm NOT Corco on Feb 13, 2008 11:42 AM PST to parent up   0 recs

TWO tickets plz
One for Opening Day and one for the next.
I'm Gomez and I write about many things.

by Gomez on Feb 13, 2008 12:07 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

I'm so pissed they closed the Oly team store...
...I have to sit and wait online or on the phone again this year.  And pay the completely ridiculous fees.  On top of the 'premium' for Opening Day seats...

With gas prices high and rising higher, even w/a full-time job I might not even be able to afford too many games this year.

Good thing I love Cheney Stadium...

Ill Ligitamus Non Carberendum

by PositivePaul on Feb 13, 2008 12:10 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

They closed the Olympia team store?
When?  Why?  That sucks.  I always thought the mall stores did well...

by Deanna on Feb 14, 2008 7:57 AM PST to parent up   0 recs

L ame
I'd rather see Felix.
Yesterday's Pants

by Katal LM on Feb 13, 2008 12:42 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Here's the difference between Feb. 12th
and Feb. 13th. We're one day closer.

And, yes, most of it is psychological. It's knowing that the players are there practicing, banging slump-busters, taking greenies, shooting up steroids, etc.

I reject your reality and substitute my own!

by Phildopip on Feb 13, 2008 11:36 AM PST   0 recs

Huh?
shooting up steroids

No one in baseball is on steroids, or has ever used steroids. You are mistaken.

by seattlebruin on Feb 13, 2008 11:45 AM PST to parent up   0 recs

Shooting beaver, enabling flu like symptoms...
giving Ballgame wedgies, scheduling mistresses, pissing on their own feet, etc.
You can ching ching ching cash in on this tragedy.

by John Morgan on Feb 13, 2008 12:09 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

I guess it is that first TV or Radio report
where I hear a fastball pop into a catcher's mitt.  It is a sweet sound and it makes me smile.

by Sec 108 on Feb 13, 2008 11:44 AM PST   0 recs

We get a whole new set of puff-pieces, I guess
so that's sorta nice, I suppose.

by tworsandtwols on Feb 13, 2008 12:05 PM PST   0 recs

It's the canary in the coal mine
except without the death.  
It's tangible evidence that baseball is coming soon.
It's no more rambling about the stupid effing hot stove.  
It's no more Bedard talks.  
It's something to make February worth having.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Feb 13, 2008 12:26 PM PST   0 recs

Exactly
and without Spring Training February would be the worst month on the calendar in regards to sports for me.  Not a hockey or basketball fan, so this is fun for me.

by Sec 108 on Feb 13, 2008 12:31 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

For the first time
even the thought of the start of the season doesn't have the same excitement...

its just been such an angst filled off-season that even thinking about getting baseball going doesn't bring on that same excitement of years past.

I'm sure that will change in the coming weeks, I just don't seem to be anxious about the season right now.

by MfaninAlaska on Feb 13, 2008 12:34 PM PST   0 recs

It'll come
wait until the last week of March.

by Jeff on Feb 13, 2008 12:35 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

So after the opening series is played
in Burkina Faso, or wherever they've put it this year?

by Llewdor on Feb 13, 2008 12:48 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

I need to find a job that just lets me take
February and March off so I can go travel around and forget how boring these months are.

by Matthew on Feb 13, 2008 12:39 PM PST   0 recs

the real question on everybody's lips
is who lost 15 pounds over the winter?

by Mere Tantalisers on Feb 13, 2008 12:46 PM PST   0 recs

I did.
but that's probably not what you were thinking about.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Feb 13, 2008 12:46 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

I did
Lost my wallet :(

by Graham on Feb 13, 2008 12:50 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

I first read it
as if it were implying that Graham's wallet weighs 15 pounds, and that he is therefore much better off than the rest of us.

by Jeff on Feb 13, 2008 1:02 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

ahhhh
just got it...

by thenatural on Feb 13, 2008 1:03 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Sure, having a wallet that big seems nice
and it's attractive to the opposite sex, but boy, let me tell you about the lower back pain lugging that around causes.

by Matthew on Feb 13, 2008 1:04 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

it wouldn't be the first thing
to weigh 15 pounds, be attractive to the opposite sex, and cause back pain from lugging it around.

by Llewdor on Feb 13, 2008 1:18 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

right...
that was the joke

by Matthew on Feb 13, 2008 1:21 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Ummm
A 15 lbs. wallet is a man purse.  Not sexy at all.
Go Fo Broke!

by eknpdx on Feb 13, 2008 1:18 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Just ask George Costanza.
All this optimism is bringing me down...

by Thingray on Feb 13, 2008 1:38 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Me too.
...and now I'm here

by Librocrat on Feb 13, 2008 2:14 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

I first read it that way
And second, third, fourth and then finally got it.  You all are far wittier than I.  Keep it up it lightens my day.

by Sec 108 on Feb 13, 2008 2:44 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Carlos Silva
Unfortunately, he turned around and gained 20 of them back.
I'm Gomez and I write about many things.

by Gomez on Feb 13, 2008 1:47 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Warning: Cheesy analogy
I like to think of the baseball offseason as though I'm playing the Oregon Trail, only during the opposite 6 months of the year -- you leave in October (or November if you're lucky), getting to Oregon on Opening Day.

Along the way there are landmarks, some with importance:
-Stopping at a fort for some supplies you don't have on the first day of free agency, hoping you're a banker from New York and not a farmer from Florida.
-Coming up on a river, not knowing how dangerous it is to get to the other side, and then crossing your fingers with hope that your GM isn't named Bavasi and he won't pay $50 to the Indians GM asking for $10 because his Plan A was to ford it but that fell apart when the water level was too high and he then waited around for a month hoping it would subside.
-Always my favorite part, rafting what's left of your wagon down The Dalles to your final destination during Spring Training.

But there are also landmarks that come without any real significance. Pitchers and Catchers reporting to spring training, just like Independence Rock, is certainly one of them. After you've played through a few dozen offseasons, the inevitable tombstones of horrible memories involving bad trades and worse free agent decisions begin to litter the side of the trail and add the association of heartbreak to an increasingly large pool of dates.

But how monotonous would that game be if you didn't have these landmarks to help remind you that you're growing ever closer to Opening Day? Four-plus months of nothing but barren wilderness with a buffalo named Beluga Tits and a gritty squirrel named Willie occasionally making an appearance. Today may be insignficant in the grand scheme of things, but it's an emotional pick-me-up. Baseball grows nigh. It's sunny and over 50 in Seattle for once. I can almost smell the fresh cut grass and hear the sound of baseball smacking glove.

This, amigos, is what Pitchers & Catchers is all about. I'm inscribing my random thoughts on the side of Independence Rock as we pass by. Anyone want to trade me a wagon wheel for some clothes? My DH broke both of his and I'm tired of watching him GIDP.

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." ~Rogers Hornsby

by thejew4u on Feb 13, 2008 2:05 PM PST   0 recs

Oregon Trail?
Upon reading your analogy I see no mention of dysentery.

If nobody dies of dysentery then you are playing the game wrong.

by PShwa on Feb 13, 2008 2:31 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

And hunting for dinner
Like shooting Bartolo Colon and only getting to take 200 pounds of him with you.
I'm Gomez and I write about many things.

by Gomez on Feb 13, 2008 2:54 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Haha
That was always the best
"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." ~Rogers Hornsby

by thejew4u on Feb 14, 2008 9:19 AM PST to parent up   0 recs

For some reason
My dad was obsessed with Oregon Trail. He'd try to leave in December, buy as few supplies as possible, and would attempt to ford any river he came upon(including the Mississippi). Always entertaining to watch--though less so when the character representing me invariably died of starvation on the fourth of fifth day.

by Liebkartoffel on Feb 13, 2008 4:20 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Oh yeah,
I also appreciated the fact that laudenum somehow magically cured just about every disease known to man, as well as snakebites.

by Liebkartoffel on Feb 13, 2008 4:23 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

Ouch! That's rough...
My best OT moment was in college, I was taking a food science class (for general education credit) with a bunch of friends and decided one day to play Oregon Trail on my laptop instead of take notes on the various water-soluable vitamins. I didn't realize any of them were watching me play, but about 2 weeks into the trip I got a notice that my buddy Josh had broken his leg. Josh, sitting next to me, immediately proclaimed "OH SHIT" really loudly - 3 rows back from the teacher's lectern. How I passed the class after that is beyond me...
"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." ~Rogers Hornsby

by thejew4u on Feb 14, 2008 9:22 AM PST to parent up   0 recs

Spring Training has the same feel.
After 2 weeks of game, there is another 2 weeks before the season starts.

I just want Opening Day to come ASAP.

by Wilder83 on Feb 13, 2008 2:45 PM PST   0 recs

Old people like
it. Like PDB and stuff. Us youngings don't really give a hoot!
"Kruger! My son tells me, your company shtinks!"-Frank Costanza.

by Coach Owens on Feb 13, 2008 3:29 PM PST   0 recs

piss off, junior
back in my day, we didn't even have spring training.  We didn't really even have spring.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Feb 13, 2008 3:34 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

But you did have training.
Lots of it. In the snow. Uphill both ways.

by Jeff on Feb 13, 2008 3:35 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

and I crawled there
but not on my knees, because we didn't have those either.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Feb 13, 2008 3:35 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

And you didn't have them
fancy inventions like video games, computers and toothpaste, right?
"Kruger! My son tells me, your company shtinks!"-Frank Costanza.

by Coach Owens on Feb 13, 2008 3:49 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

You know what he did have?
Belts and switches. So I'd stop now if I were you.

by Jeff on Feb 13, 2008 3:50 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

And lawns.
So, get off PDB's, you punk!
Ill Ligitamus Non Carberendum

by PositivePaul on Feb 13, 2008 3:51 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

You know what he didn't
have that I bet he wanted?.... Never mind.
"Kruger! My son tells me, your company shtinks!"-Frank Costanza.

by Coach Owens on Feb 13, 2008 3:52 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

This oughta be good
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Feb 13, 2008 3:53 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

BRENT ****ING LILLIBRIDGE!
THAT'S WHAT!
"Kruger! My son tells me, your company shtinks!"-Frank Costanza.

by Coach Owens on Feb 13, 2008 3:55 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

that's all you got?
Man, you got some work to do.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Feb 13, 2008 3:57 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

and golf shoes.
and not these wussy little Softspikes, either.  proper ones with metal spikes.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Feb 13, 2008 3:52 PM PST to parent up   0 recs

We had toothpaste
but it was made from the liquified carcasses of dead hobos, not your fancy 'fluoride' and 'spearmint'.

And yeah, we had video games - if you count 'drawing on the side of the tree with chalk' as a video game.  It was a lot of fun, but for fast moving games, it got awkward.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Feb 13, 2008 3:51 PM PST to parent up   0 recs