The One Constant Through All The Years
Much like my weekend cohort, I too have meditations guiding me through Washington's tiring decent into the snowbound life. Namely, it's remembering that baseball, inevitably, will return. Last-minute dirt cheap admittance, that first cold beer, hot dogs with everything on them, sunsets, grass, dirt, the sweet line of sweat that burrows under the brim of your cap on a hot summer day, that sigh of relief that rolls around the crowd after the sun sets behind the lights of Nationals Park and cooling evening breezes begin to roll around the place, explaining the art of the drag bunt to your friends, making a new best friend on the crammed Metro train home. Ahh, that's the stuff.
So you can understand how promising it is that spring training has officially gotten rolling. Pitchers and catchers reported to Viera, Florida yesterday for the Nationals' annual escape in preparation for another grueling 162-game season. Most of the players are still going through the rote physicals that accompany arrival in the Sunshine State, but there's a foreign sense of optimism surrounding this team. Many position players, who aren't required to report to Viera until the 24th, are already in camp, working out. Our Strasburgian messiah is there, leaving many wondering how big a splash he can make. All Wang jokes aside, the pitching staff has been revamped and holds some promise of being a little bit better. 2009's September call-ups are there, sure to inject some life to the battle for playing time, and Jim Riggleman gets his first springtime crack at evaluating the Nationals' roster. We can soon get back to making Tony Plush references and wondering, as we do every spring, whether or not this will be the year where we see Elijah Dukes' potential convert into real production.
Perhaps it's foolish to wax such hope -- but until Opening Day, the Nationals have lost as many games as they've won. And baseball, the wonderful experience of it, is on its way. Melt, snow, melt.