Time To Work Off All That Winter Fat, Big Leaguers

Yes, it is officially that time of year: About 15 minutes ago, pitchers and catchers from several teams officially reported to spring training. Actually, it's only the pitchers and catchers for the Yankees and Nationals, which we guess counts.

We've never been to spring training, but we have a feeling we like the idea of it — renewal, hope, people mowing grass or something — more than the actual experience. It used to be kind of cute to see Major League players in stadiums with ads for local truck stops on the outfield wall; now you can pretty much see that at every actual stadium. And with the insane demand for tickets — it's almost more difficult to get Red Sox-Yankees spring training tickets than it is for actual games — it just feels like some of the quaintness is gone. Unless you want to see Hammer or Garth Brooks take batting practice.

That said, Yahoo's launching its fantasy game Thursday and it's all revving back up now. That is, as always, a sublime pleasure.

Fun In The Sun To Begin At Last [MLB.com]