Sports in Seconds: The ‘almost' spring training adventure
All this talk about spring break has this sports fan thinking one thing: spring training.
Major League pitchers and catchers begin travelling to their various spring training facilities starting February 14 while full rosters join them starting near the end of February.
I always look at the pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training as one of those milestones every year, reminding me that spring is actually around the corner here as well, despite looking outside and seeing piles of snow and shivering every time I step out the door.
Enough about the coldness of London, I am going to talk this week about my past spring training experience, or lack there of.
If you are a follower of my column you have probably read about my past childhood memories with baseball including my obsession my RBI Baseball 2 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, my Detroit Tigers winter Starter jacket and matching ball cap and the escapades on my 10th birthday at Tiger Stadium.
Another one to add to the list is my former ‘Lakeland Fund'.
The name of the fund refers to Lakeland Florida, the home of the Detroit Tigers spring training facility and the location where the Tigers prepare for each MLB season. Being roughly eight-years-old, I took an old peanut butter jar, cleaned it all out and labeled the top of the jar pointing-out the fact that I would be heading to Lakeland Florida to watch the Tigers in spring training that next spring.
I declared to my parents that I was going to save all my money (a weekly five-dollar allowance at the time) and I was going to see Cecil Fielder, Travis Fryman, Alan Trammell and the rest of the Tiger players in action.
Considering it was already winter by this point, and saving five dollars a week for only a couple months wasn't going to work out, my trip to Lakeland never happened.
So although this past-baseball memory never quite materialized, I at least got the chance to share another one of these moments with you.
Stay tuned for an update on a set of baseball cards that I created when I was about nine, with a total of 150 cards, bright neon construction paper, and with actual typewriter written biographies on each card.
Yeah I know. I was a geek.
Major League pitchers and catchers begin travelling to their various spring training facilities starting February 14 while full rosters join them starting near the end of February.
I always look at the pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training as one of those milestones every year, reminding me that spring is actually around the corner here as well, despite looking outside and seeing piles of snow and shivering every time I step out the door.
Enough about the coldness of London, I am going to talk this week about my past spring training experience, or lack there of.
If you are a follower of my column you have probably read about my past childhood memories with baseball including my obsession my RBI Baseball 2 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, my Detroit Tigers winter Starter jacket and matching ball cap and the escapades on my 10th birthday at Tiger Stadium.
Another one to add to the list is my former ‘Lakeland Fund'.
The name of the fund refers to Lakeland Florida, the home of the Detroit Tigers spring training facility and the location where the Tigers prepare for each MLB season. Being roughly eight-years-old, I took an old peanut butter jar, cleaned it all out and labeled the top of the jar pointing-out the fact that I would be heading to Lakeland Florida to watch the Tigers in spring training that next spring.
I declared to my parents that I was going to save all my money (a weekly five-dollar allowance at the time) and I was going to see Cecil Fielder, Travis Fryman, Alan Trammell and the rest of the Tiger players in action.
Considering it was already winter by this point, and saving five dollars a week for only a couple months wasn't going to work out, my trip to Lakeland never happened.
So although this past-baseball memory never quite materialized, I at least got the chance to share another one of these moments with you.
Stay tuned for an update on a set of baseball cards that I created when I was about nine, with a total of 150 cards, bright neon construction paper, and with actual typewriter written biographies on each card.
Yeah I know. I was a geek.
