Impatiently waiting for the opening of the season

In the last post I made my prediction of at least 98 wins for the Giants this year and, I am sticking to it… even more committed than when I wrote it. Everything about spring training so far is encouraging. In fact, it is my intent to make a legal wager on this very soon.

It is interesting to me that as I grow older; I find that the baseball season transports my mind back to simpler times… to the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. I keep getting brief flashbacks of the humid evenings with my dad listening to Tiger games on the front porch… to the vivid blue sky, bright yellowish green grass and, the dark forest green paint of Tiger Stadium. I remember my boyhood heroes… Al Kaline, Harvey Kueen, Charley Maxwell, Reno Bertoia, Frank Bolling, Jim Bunning and the gang. I remember my loathing the Yankees and their incessant winning.

I also remember rising early to go out to the sand lot near my home and, how we would play ball from early morning to dusk day after day. I remember my grandma coming to the lot and yelling because I was catching too close to the hitter.  I remember the cabin fever that built up in late March in Michigan. It seemed like opening day would never come and, that warm weather was not going to make it that particular year. But always, the snow would disappear and, the warmth would bring it on.

Now, I am in the bay area and, you can play catch year around. If there is anything I miss here it is the lingering warmth; especially in the evenings at ATT Park. They can seem chilly all summer long.

Did I say that I am enthusiastically awaiting Pablo Sandoval’s performance in the regular season? I am looking forward to Posey’s at bats, Belt coming up from triple A ball later in the season, the great pitching, the increase in offense from all the team that could enable Zito to have a much better year. I think that the lineup will be packed with potential hits and runs and I cannot wait.