Cactus League Opener

Today, while I was huddling inside and praying that the freezing rain wouldn't wash the house away, the Cubs took to the field under jewel blue skies to battle the Oakland A's in their Cactus League opener. Unfortunately no one seemed to think that the game was worth its price in video footage, so I had to content myself with reading about the game after the fact. It sounds as if it was a good game, the Cubs dominating with a 9-3 win. Derrik Lee hammered a homer during his first at-bat, but who could expect him to do anything less? Newcomer Marlon Byrd apparently showed himself well, and youngin' Starlin Castro tripled late in the game to prove that there may indeed be something behind all of the hype.

Spring Training play officially began this week, with several exhibition games unfolding in sunny Arizona and Florida. I watched portions of two games (though, as stated earlier, someone dropped the ball and decided not to televise the Cubs opener.) The first was the Yankees opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates; one of the most highly paid ball clubs versus one of the lowest. The Pirates showed themselves well against the Yanks, but (in typical Yankee fashion) a end-of- game comeback sealed the Pirates' fates and left the Yankees with their pinstripes and pompous sneers in tact (here's hoping that number 28 never comes). The second game was today's match between the Angels and the White Sox (otherwise known to the author of this blog as "that other Chicago ball club".) I would liked to have seen the White Sox suffer a double digit shutout so that they would come into Saturday's match against the Cubbies with hunched shoulders and tear-stained faces. Unfortunately, I had to content myself with a late-game comeback from the Angels and a 4-4 tie.

I know that Spring Training games amount to absolutely nothing, but I do like their symbolic strength. With each crack of the bat and thump of the glove Winter seems to flee further away, retreating to whatever frostbitten place it calls its home. Baseball is as much a clarion for the approaching Spring as budding trees and swelling rivers.

Cub napped through both of this week's games (and I joined him during the Yankee-Pirates game) so that he could be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for Saturday's match. Not even three booming thunderclaps could wake him as he lay dreaming of ivied walls and rippling new pennants...