Baseball Spring Training - a Wonderful Time of the Year

Cardinal coaches watch first practice game at Jupiter FL

Allen Craig and Matt Holliday at Spring Training

"Don't get hurt," I heard St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Mattheny call out. He was concerned when pitcher Jason Motte and catcher Yadi Molina both raced on a collision course to retrieve a bat during a practice game between players on the team.

This was all fun to watch standing close enough to touch the coaches and players who sat on a bench or leaned against the wire link fence. Spring training has to be one of the most exciting times of the year. Fans get to interact with players, and everyone is excited about the possibilities for the season to come.

The father of Jordan Swagerty was in the practice field stands along with a friend. His son, a right-handed pitcher, is a non-roster invitee who has lost two years of play because of Tommy John surgery. Jordan had great promise and is yet another excellent prospect in the Cardinals farm system. His father glows with excitement at the potential for his son.

There are fences on the practice fields that weren't there a few years ago, a fan points out. When Mark McGwire joined the team as a player, the fences were erected for crowd control, she explains.

So many stars to watch. Is there a Hall of Famer among them?

I marvel at all the possibilities, at all the young talent that fills the warm, grassy Florida practice fields. As a writer, I think of the many stories that abound there. Only my imagination limits the potential for writing fact or fiction about baseball.

Is there a book hidden somewhere?

Perhaps there is.

I love spring training.