Somewhere in Arizona today, guys in Cub uniforms will be doing baseball stuff. Spring begins again.
It's time for the words baseball fans couldn't wait to hear: pitchers and catchers. Just 112 days after the Chicago White Sox completed their World Series sweep of the Houston Astros, spring training began Wednesday when pitchers and catchers reported to a half-dozen of the 30 major league training camps in Florida and Arizona.
Workouts started Thursday, and the Minnesota Twins will become the final team to report Sunday. Position players are due in next week, and before you know it will come the April 3 opener, when Cleveland visits the White Sox.
There will be an interesting twist this year, with the spring split by the first World Baseball Classic, a 16-team tournament from March 3-20 in which players will be on national teams instead of major league clubs.
But for now, teams were settling in.
Sammy Sosa, however, was not at spring training. The 37-year-old outfielder, just 12 homers shy of becoming the fifth player to reach 600, rejected an offer from the Washington Nationals and is likely to retire. The former Chicago Cubs star batted .221 with 14 homers and 45 RBIs last year in his only season with the Baltimore Orioles.
Bye, bye Sammy.