Countdown until Pitchers and Catchers Report

[CuriousBoston]

Roger Clemens pitching batting practice

Newsclip of him pitching to son Koby. Sunny, warm, uniforms. Clemens has not made up his mind to play this year. It was my first sighting this year of baseball. Of course, whenever I see Clemens, I guess that will be RClemens now, I have evil thoughts about Dan Duquette.

[Mattingly]

Newsclip of him pitching to son Koby. Sunny, warm, uniforms. Clemens has not made up his mind to play this year. It was my first sighting this year of baseball. Of course, whenever I see Clemens, I guess that will be RClemens now, I have evil thoughts about Dan Duquette.

But CB, hasn't DD entered the "twilight of his career" and is slurping red chowder along with Leisure Suit Larry?

[Mattingly]

5 days, 3 hours, 42 minutes. Boy, that's taking so long. Must've used snail mail. Ugh.


Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press
Fans watching batting practice last year at Legends Field,
the Yankees' spring home in Tampa, Fla.

It's Next Year Already

FOR baseball fans, nothing signals the coming of spring like the day in February when players first begin to trickle into training camps in Florida and Arizona. This year, spring training officially gets under way Wednesday, when pitchers and catchers start reporting to camp. The rest of the players will follow, and the schedule of exhibition games gets going in the first week of March.

And although some players will be gone from their clubs' camps for the World Baseball Classic, a World Cup-style international tournament running March 3 to March 20, there is still plenty of leisurely, low-key baseball in the sun to be enjoyed all over Florida and Arizona.

From sleepy towns like Lakeland, Fla., where a lazy afternoon in the grandstand is the main attraction, to more urban areas like Scottsdale, Ariz., where a late night out is part of the appeal, the atmosphere and the experience are as important as what happens on the field. Luckily for travelers, there are a number of locations in the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues to choose from, each with its own charms.

[Chisox73]

5 days, 3 hours, 42 minutes. Boy, that's taking so long. Must've used snail mail. Ugh.

I don't know about you,but this off season went really,really fast for me.

[Reed Johnson]

I don't know about you,but this off season went really,really fast for me.

Same here. If hockey was still locked out though I probably would have died!

[CuriousBoston]

The Trucks Leave Fenway Today!

At 2 PM, the trucks leave Fenway for spring training. News showed some final packing yesterday. During snowstorm, they ticketed about 5000 cars, and towed over 700.

I thought I saw and heard someone pondering whether to pack Papi's jock strap. Did anyone else see that?

Did anyone see the tv show about the cold case unit solving a murder involving Negro All Stars playing a white team? They said there was a black player named Walker in the 1800's. Don't know if fact or fiction.

[Dravecky43]

Did anyone see the tv show about the cold case unit solving a murder involving Negro All Stars playing a white team? They said there was a black player named Walker in the 1800's. Don't know if fact or fiction.

If memory serves, there was a black player in the National League in 1884 or something. I do believe his name was Walker. Don't remember much else, though.

[trosmok]

C'mon Thursday

One day, ten hours, 55 minutes until pitchers and catchers report. Happy VD to all, and may the best team win the series in '06.

Moses Fleetwood Walker was a black ballplayer on the Toledo Blue Stockings beginning in 1884 with his brother Welday. They were the only balck players in the otherwise white American Association which was, at the time, considered a major league. Fleetwood was assaulted outside a Syracuse bar in 1891 and killed the knife wielding attacker, but was arrested for murder. Was that the case you are referring to? See:

http://www.nlbpa.com/walker__moses_fleetwood.html

[Mattingly]

1 day, 8 hrs, 37 mins. Too long.

If memory serves, there was a black player in the National League in 1884 or something. I do believe his name was Walker. Don't remember much else, though.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/fea...ball/1883.html

[Mattingly]

The clock has struck 12. Time to exhale, folks!

Unstickeying.