Spring Training

For many teams, spring training helps gauge what to expect in the upcoming season. For the Atlanta Braves, however, it’s clear that this spring training is more about the seasons to come.

There are generally two different types of players who find themselves as non-roster invitees for an MLB team during spring training.

It was a long, grueling stretch of nearly four months without baseball, but those days are finally behind us.

Ask around Major League Baseball and most people close to the game will tell you the same thing about Spring Training—it's an incredible window into the game that a true fan needs to experience.

I've never gone myself, so I can only trust in the wisdom of those words, but my faith is strong.

Granted, the same thing that I'm sure makes the Show's exhibition run so exceptional is the same thing that makes it confounding to professional prognosticators—it's utterly meaningless.

As usual, Theo Epstein has effectively overloaded the 2010 Red Sox rotation with Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, and John Lackey owning the front end and Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Buchholz, Tim Wakefield, and maybe Boof Bonser competing for the final two spots.

The bullpen, led by the still largely dominant Jonathan Papelbon, is not quite so prohibitively predetermined but remains crowded. Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, Ramon Ramirez, and Daniel Bard have probably already locked up their spots if only due to their experience.

Lefty Jon Lester surrendered three hits and issued two walks as part of a four-run first inning as the Minnesota Twins rebounded from yesterday’s loss with a 5-0 defeat of the Red Sox today in Ft Myers.

The Sox wasted a solid scoring opportunity in the top of the first inning. CF Mike Cameron drew a walk off RHP Carl Pavano to open the game but was thrown out trying to steal second base. The caught-stealing proved costly when Victor Martinez doubled to left field one out later.

In June of '09 I wrote a story recapping Tommy Hanson's major league debut in Atlanta. In that article I talked about the Hansonmania that had taken Atlanta by storm in a losing effort.

In 2010, still days away from the first exhibition game of spring training, Heyward-Hype has made Hansonmania look like my seventh birthday party—the one when the clown didn't even show up.

Only two days away from now is an ALCS rematch; the Rays square off vs. the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Opening Day.

Since I don't get to see the Sox play too much, I really did jump up and down for a minute when I found out this game was getting picked up by ESPN2.

The Red Sox have been praised by many this off-season for adding a whole lot of "depth" to their team.

They have done this by bringing in Brad Penny, Takashi Saito, John Smoltz, Ramon Ramirez, and Rocco Baldelli.

Tony Gwynn Jr. will begin yet another season in the minor leagues for the Milwaukee Brewers, as he was sent down to AAA-Nashville earlier this week.

Gwynn was drafted by Milwaukee in the second round of the 2003 MLB Draft, and made his MLB debut three years later. It was almost 24 years to the day, since his father made his jump to the majors.

Tony Gwynn Sr. was one of the greatest hitters in the game, but somehow that skill was not passed on to little Anthony.

Even Gwynn Jr.'s uncle Chris had a decent MLB career.

The Phillies concluded their spring schedule the same way they started it: with a loss.

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Phillies this afternoon by a score of 9-7 in a game that was affected very much by strong winds.

Cole Hamels got the start for the Phils and struggled from the outset. He was charged with six earned runs on six hits in five innings of work.