It's ON!

It's that time of year again when the hair on the back of your neck tingles just a little bit more (note to self: time to trim neck hair). Spring training is upon us. The Nationals and Yankees have pitchers and catchers reporting today, with the rest of MLB's 30 finest to follow in the next few days. Some Japanese pitcher reported to Red Sox camp today (hadn't heard about it - he's really been under the radar!). And of course, who could forget the epic event that is Red Sox moving van day!


By the way, kudos to the Sox marketing staff for finding yet another revenue stream - the van is sponsored by CVS! That reminds me, I need some generic CVS pain reliever after my attempts to get Fenway tickets. Given the amount of white space, though, I expect more ads next year. Make this thing look like a NASCAR truck, Larry Lucchino!

In the coming weeks, we have many interesting spring training subplots to look forward to, including:

1) Will Satan be allowed to stalk the Bay Area in a size 10-cap, causing destruction and despair wherever he treads?

2) Will the pressure of spring training be too much for A-Rod?

3) Will the Cubs throw $50 million at Steve Finley, Bernie Williams, or a random guy on the street just for the hell of it?

4) Will the buffets in Peoria survive 6 weeks of David Wells?

5) Will the Mets find a quality starter who doesn't qualify for AARP?

6) Free from New York, will Randy Johnson's return to the Samson-like mullet lead the Diamondbacks to believe that they can win in 2007?

7) Will Sammy Sosa be able to hit the ball on the fly into the outfield?

8) Will anyone notice that the Devil Rays exist?

9) Will Jim Leyland conduct pitcher fielding drills at gunpoint?

10) Will Roger Clemens take the lead role in the Houston Shakespeare Company's production of "Hamlet?"

10) And who'll win the World Series? I'll give my opinion in March when I do quick reviews of all 30 teams in 30 days. They'll be short, but they'll be all you need to know. So have faith, fans, your team still can win this year (um, except for the Royals - I think they've already been mathematically eliminated).