4
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2008
Its the most wonderful time of the year
Had “the talk" with my dad
last weekend.
Not that talk that
happened in high school.
This talk: “Hey chief, guess
what? Pitchers and catchers this
week."
This week, as in the week when
pitchers and catchers report to
Spring Training.
Wake up and smell the pine tar,
folks: Baseball approaches.
Five seasons constitute mv year
fall, winter, spring, summer and
baseball. About this time even
with t|our
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SAM ROSENTHAL
GARDEN STATE Of MIND
year, like leaves turning color, signs
of baseball begin to appear.
“Baseball Tonight" returns to
the ESPN lineup, for example.
For the first time in months.
Spring Sports
something other than steroids
and contract arbitration becomes
relevant.
“Will the Cubs win it this
year?" for instance (never said it
staved relevant for long).
And if you visit The Bagel
Bin in suburban New Jersey,
you will undoubtedly find a few
Philadelphia Phillies taking bets
on how far manager Charlie
Manuel makes it into the season
before getting fired.
Have you prepared appro
priately? I-et’s run through the
checklist...
■ Pick up the old ball and mitt
and play catch with your father,
sister, roommate or garage door.
Catch a few pop-ups and gun down
ghost runners at home —then
realize you threw your arm out, ice
it and wait a week to try again.
■ Buy a large package of
David sunflower seeds (imita
tions not acceptable) and work
on your spitting technique.
■ Rent and watch “Field of
Dreams" and “Bull Durham" in
the same evening, successfully
quoting at least three out of every
ten lines spoken on screen. (See,
in baseball, three out of ten earns
you a spot in the Hall of Fame).
■ Play Wiffle Ball until you
take at least one swing that
A Tar Heel Tradition...
Dinner at Our Place
I he Show. The Chefs. The Sushi.
WNKy
J m’amsi House of Stf \ks & Sushi
Dine in - Fake out - (iift Certificates
3S(n Mi. Moriah Road • Durham • 401-6908
(l.xir 270 off I 40. North on t $ - S o /, first intersection past I-40)
C KUDU 1 Vahiv Mai I • 4325 Glenwood Wmu • Raleigh • -g 1 >ros
Noriu MaRM I Scyi ARI • nOt) Old Wake Fores. Road • Raleigh • S~(,I
kanki.com
knocks you off your feet into a
pretzel-like heap.
■ If you slacked during the
offseason, visit your favorite
team's Web site and research
the players they acquired or lost.
Curse the ownership for not
spending enough. Or, if your
team resides in New York or
Boston, pessimistically assert that
it won’t make a damned ounce of
difference, anyway.
■ Stuff an entire pack of Big
league Chew in your mouth at
one time.
■ Nostalgically try on your old
uniform (complete with jockstrap
and cup); then remember why
you hung up your spikes in the
first place.
■ Swing an imaginary bat in
front of a mirror until Mom asks
what the heck you’re doing. Tell
her it’s a 2-0 count and you’re
zone-hitting... duh.
After that bullpen warm up,
remember that baseball season
in Chapel Hill works a little bit
differently. No Major league fran
chises rep the nine-one-nine, but
baseball still makes its presence
felt within these friendly confines.
Many fans root for the not-so
nearby Atlanta Braves, who appear
on TBS often enough to make this
Phillies fan lose his lainchables.
Uhr Dailif ear Hrrl
For fans such as myself who
pull for out-of-town teams, noth
ing beats sitting on the big leath
er couches at Four Comers and
sipping even bigger Blue Moon
draughts while watching games
from around The Show.
And, for the sweet “ping” of
aluminum on rawhide, Chapel
Hillians delight in the recent suc
cess of the Tar Heel baseball team.
In case you missed it —a trag
edy if you did North Carolina
made successive trips to the
Men's College World Series
Finals in 2006 and 2007, ulti
mately finishing runner-up to
Oregon State both times.
So, just like Cubs fans, UNC
athletic supporters will wonder:
“Is this the year?"
With baseball, more so maybe
than other sports, you never truly
know until they play the games
—and they play so many. It is a
mile-long season, composed of
countless games of inches.
And right now, one phrase
encompasses all of the hope in
the world for baseball lovers
across America:
Pitchers and catchers this
w’eek.
Contact Sam Rosenthal
at sam rose (a email. unc.edu.