Pitchers and Catchers Report ....Finally!!!

At long last Baseball is here, it's been a long time since Brad Lidge and the rest of the Phillies celebrated that last out of a strange World Series on the mound of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

True it's ten more days until there are actual games, and still quite some time between now and April 5th when the Dodgers and Giants meet in San Francisco in the first regular season game. And in that time some off the field things need to be settled, the biggest of which will be A-Rod reporting to Tampa in the next few days, and having to answer to the media circus that is there to "greet" him. Torre's book is still likely to grab some headlines along the way. And it's still not clear where Manny Ramirez, the best offensive player on the free agent market will land, there have been some reports that a deal with the Dodgers is imminent, but so far nothing official.

We may look back at our teams off season and wonder, will the big free agent singing work out as planned, will the aging veteran that was let go have a big year and make the G.M. look bad. Who will win the battle for a spot in the line-up. For players like John Smoltz and Trevor Hoffman, it will be strange seeing them in a new uniform for the first time in over a decade and a half.

But it's spring training and hope is in the air, we wonder who will be this years Rays and come out of nowhere and go deep into the playoffs. Which rookie that we still may not know how to pronounce his name properly will make an impact and be the next great player. It's spring and we can dream, Pirates fans can say "if Tampa Bay can do it why not us".

So get into the Baseball mood, watch some of your teams highlights from last year and get excited all over again. Get out that Baseball book that's been collecting dust all Football season and refresh your memory as to why you love this game so much. Go out and rent that Baseball movie you always wanted to see but kept putting off.

It's been a long off season, with a lot of soap opera like story's making the headlines and I just can't wait for the action to return to the field instead of the podium.