Mayer: A Beautiful Day for Baseball

This is one of my favorite weeks of the year. Pitchers and catchers are reporting and spring training is about to start. Baseball is about to return which means I am once again a whole person.

Courtesy MLB

I love spring training for two main reasons. The first is obvious and essentially stated above. Baseball is back and I love baseball...a lot. The Great American Pastime is the sport I follow closest, played my entire life, and really is the source of my passion for sports. I love the history, the strategy, and the grind. Baseball is the best.

Spring training is a time when every fan can have hope (except the Astros, that is honestly going to be one hell of a dumpster fire). But even Houston fans can salivate during spring training analyzing their young prospects who soon will be counted on to reinvigorate the franchise. The lead up to the season gives fans a chance to dream of championships, get to know new acquisitions, study the depth of the entire farm system.

We argue back and fourth about who should grab the last bench spot, if the non roster invitee or the kid who only got to double A last season should be the last man in the bullpen, and what is the most efficient way to set a lineup. We play owner, general manager, and manager during spring training, even if it's only through debate with friends.

Courtesy MLB

The lead up to the season is fun and I look forward to reading and probably writing predictions of division standings, playoff outcomes, award winners, and all that good stuff. However, the second reason I love spring training gets to the heart of the matter. It's a time where we can step back from professional baseball and look at the MLB through a different lens. That was kind of vague, I know, but allow me to explain.

While I love the MLB and love my Dodgers, that is not why I fell in love with baseball. It is why I fell in love with football for instance. My introduction to football was Brett Favre and the Packers. But with baseball, the sport at a grassroots level is what drew me in. When I think about baseball, the first image that comes to my mind is the final scene in "The Natural." Roy Hobbs in a field playing catch with his son; a majestic sunset as a backdrop. THAT is baseball.

While spring training is still corporate and still about preparation for the MLB season, at no other time are fans able to look at professional players in that way. You can go to a spring training site and watch superstars mingle with unknowns and washed up veterans, then get a picture, autograph, and have a chat with all three as they come off the field. I'm sure people who are not big baseball fans couldn't care less about spring raining. For me and my baseball brethren, it's magical.

Courtesy The Natural