It is...

...so very nice to sleep with an open window...

Next year's here

The true sign that Spring has arrived - Opening Day!...

To me, no other diversion travels along the path of a year like baseball does.  Think of the names used to describe baseball during its season: Spring Training, Boys of Summer, Fall Classic, Hot Stove League (curiously, a term used to describe the one time of the year there is neither baseball played nor a league to even speak of). Baseball is my other calendar. I would like to think that if I ended up in a coma, woke up and saw the World Series was playing on the television, I would, at the very least, know it's late October. Then I'd reach for my iPhone for the exact date - let's hope I don't have amnesia...

This past winter, I tried to not pay much attention to the baseball press. I wanted to enjoy the upcoming season with the wonder of ignorance. Some news was unavoidable such as Derek Jeter's contract talks, my Red Sox signings of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, the pursuit of pitcher Cliff Lee who ended up re-signing with the team that traded him away. Short of the major news, I avoided going online to Major League Baseball's website.  

While not completely successful, I think I will enjoy watching games where I will utter to friends, "Who the hell is this guy and where did he come from?" Last year was like that watching my Red Sox as injuries crippled them and many 'kids' were brought up to fill positions. Like the saying, I really did need a lineup card to know who the players were.

Now I don't have to try avoidance as today is the first day of Spring - my Spring. Still, I chuckled at my attempt at not keeping up with the Hot Stove League and it reminded me of lyrics in the King Crimson song "Indiscipline":

I was so involved, I didn't know what to think

I carried it around with me for days and days

Playing little games

Like not looking at it for a whole day

And then... looking at it

To see if I still liked it

I did!

Go Sox!