It is a beautiful 80 degrees here in Scottsdale, and I have goosebumps. 11 a.m., and the field is lousy with World Champions. Black and Orange figures scattered all around, the crack of the bat, whistles, shouts, some clapping - and the inevitable child's voice carrying over it all : "Hey....Panda..." Relaxed excitement is the name of the game this morning. The crowd (if you can call this handful of lizard-fans a crowd) sunning themselves and taking it all in.
Ahhhh. I know they are beyond excited to be here, but lazily clapping in their seats is perfect for a day like this. Little Giant-Heads stand by the railing - hoping for an autograph of their favorite player as he heads off the field. The Boys themselves seem spot on - relaxed and yet intense - concentrating and seeming to have fun doing it. Coaches pitch. Bruce Bochy strides back and forth - stopping to share a few pearls of wisdom along the way.. looks like the cat that ate the canary. Or the National League. Or the world.
Who's here ? Pat "The Bat" Burrell had a root canal done. Really - Cactus League Dental Work ? He still swaggers up to the plate as if his shit don't stink (ed. note : still mad at him re: no eye contact and a rather dismissive autograph during FanFest . That's bad mojo that needs to be cleared up before April.) Brian Wilson is still kind of "resting". Bad back, why rush it, no biggie, talking meetings with Charlie Sheen, but he's our Brian and that's okay. Maybe he'll change up his workout to accommodate it. Reportedly, a true beast when it comes to physical conditioning. (ed. note - you've seen him shirtless, right ?) He basically has carte blanche with me - as he is all business when he's between the lines. Fact.
Pitchers' Fielding :
First stop of the day, but I am apparently late, as I see a brief glimpse of Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain - and poof - they be gone. I swoon with the desert heat - and massive disappointment. I was told to arrive at 11:00, dammit. It's getting hot and dusty.
Ahhhh. I know they are beyond excited to be here, but lazily clapping in their seats is perfect for a day like this. Little Giant-Heads stand by the railing - hoping for an autograph of their favorite player as he heads off the field. The Boys themselves seem spot on - relaxed and yet intense - concentrating and seeming to have fun doing it. Coaches pitch. Bruce Bochy strides back and forth - stopping to share a few pearls of wisdom along the way.. looks like the cat that ate the canary. Or the National League. Or the world.
Who's here ? Pat "The Bat" Burrell had a root canal done. Really - Cactus League Dental Work ? He still swaggers up to the plate as if his shit don't stink (ed. note : still mad at him re: no eye contact and a rather dismissive autograph during FanFest . That's bad mojo that needs to be cleared up before April.) Brian Wilson is still kind of "resting". Bad back, why rush it, no biggie, talking meetings with Charlie Sheen, but he's our Brian and that's okay. Maybe he'll change up his workout to accommodate it. Reportedly, a true beast when it comes to physical conditioning. (ed. note - you've seen him shirtless, right ?) He basically has carte blanche with me - as he is all business when he's between the lines. Fact.
Pitchers' Fielding :
First stop of the day, but I am apparently late, as I see a brief glimpse of Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain - and poof - they be gone. I swoon with the desert heat - and massive disappointment. I was told to arrive at 11:00, dammit. It's getting hot and dusty.
A large part of this drill involves practicing through the creation of "situations". The entire pitching staff is (was) here - sorting through different fielding scenarios, re-creating muscle-memory for those important plays. It seems as it our Pitchers do need a full six weeks of throwing just to build up that arm strength. Even with a shortened off-season. I just see the tail end of them all scrambling and fielding. My own muscle memory for baseball is also coming back. I squat to test my catcher's stance. No catcher me, my knees crack like fresh lumber and I limp on to the other side of the batting cage.
Batting Practice (BP) : The Coaches are throwing these (rather easy) pitches to the Sluggers : it's all about the batting response and getting a bit of wood (oh come on - grow up). They file up to the plate and crack off 5 good ones at a shot - "home runs" are fast and furious : I read in the paper that NORAD is still looking for one of
Butt-ster (yep - saw him a lot from the....rear view, hanging over the fence.) Posey's slams. Cody Ross' balls were way outta there, as well. I closed my eyes and just listened to the beautiful music provided by the long ball in the sun.... They bat in groups of 3, the coaches change, the balls all end up in the big bin.
(Is it too early for a beer ? I thought so....I'm parched...)
Your hitters can usually get their hit together (pun totally intended) in 2-3 weeks. They get used to the velocity, swing a million times (or 100), wear in the gloves, callous up the hands. Tug on the jersey.
Player Notes :
Timmy Lincecum : Look for another breath-taking season from Big Time Timmy Jim.
Madison Bumgarner : Look for him getting another year away from his teens. His mechanics were off the heezy last season - the boy could not seem to throw a pitch (but kicked more ass post-season). He did experience, however, a family tragedy (and got married). MadBum will amaze us this year.
Pablo Sandoval : Looks awesome - like America's Next Top Model. The party line is between 38-40 pounds, but it might as well be 140 pounds. Big Boy looks fly. Let's not get distracted by his waistline, though - he needs to tighten up his other stuff a bit. I heard it said that he "...would have swung at the resin bag back in 2009..." Time to relax and strut that ass.
Miguel Tejada : Time will tell, but it should be fun. He could well fill the Clubhouse void left by Uribe and Renteria. Former MVP shortstop, but his lowest slugging % was in 2010. We throw so many strikes - and we can look forward to a Sanchez-Tejada double play team.
People will make the mistake of underestimating the 2011 Defending World Champion San Francisco Giants. Wait'll everyone realizes that it wasn't actually a fluke or weird luck or planet alignment. It's The Team. The actual people on the team.
And where they leave off, the fans pick up.
We're doing it again.
Just watch.
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