The picture was a cover of a Sports Illustrated issue in 2003. Tom Verducci wrote an article about the joys and beauties of Spring Training, one that was a lot better than the sap I am about to write down. Be warned, this might be my most overly-dramatic writing yet.
I can't dump them. I should. They aren't any good, they aren't talented. They have an owner that, albeit being a nice guy, has a "Good Ol' Boys Club" streak to him and has turned the franchise into a mess. They have few known players, and are roundly predicted to finish 5th in the NL Central, and considering Pittsburgh is basically a Triple-A team, that is basically a last place finish. Yet, I just can't dump them. The Astros mean too much to me, and that thought was banged home to me yesterday.
Valentine's day was interesting this year. No, it had nothing to do with any personal valentine I may or may not have, but more to do with its idyllic placement with a parallel event in the sports calendar. February 14th was the day that Pitchers & Catchers started reporting to their teams in baseball. My Astros reported to Kissammee, Florida, as did many other teams to their respective locations, and the long, arduous process known as the baseball season has started again. For the Astros, this is a time of great unease, with the owner putting the team up for sale, them cleaning house of big contracts, and having their two iconic players from the 2000s lacing it up for other NL teams. It is the best time to cut bait, to leave the Astros as my team, to go and look for another baseball partner, as I thought I might do last year when the news of Roy Oswalt's impending trade came about, but I just can't do it. Spring Training has taught me many things, but the most important is that Love is really eternal, in baseball, and hopefully in my life in the future.
It all starts over in Spring. Everything seems possible in my relationship with the Astros. The new beginning completely erases all the flaws that I know are there. I know the Astros can't hit worth a damn, and aren't great at fielding, and have little immediate help coming from the farm. I know all of this, but I don't know is if any of it is true. What if they suddenly can hit? What if they suddenly can field? What if Bill Hall and Clint Barmes can actually play relatively well? What if some unknown draft pick turns into the next Roy Oswalt (who was a 19th round pick in baseball's draft)? That is the beauty of baseball, the beauty of Spring Training; the "What If?" factor. What if this is the year that my team turns the corner and does what the Giants did last year, or the Tigers did in 2006? Just like the flowers, my team is about the be in bloom, and it may just be more beautiful than ever.
Like in quite a few marraiges (especially the ones to a sports team), they have a lot of time to disappoint me, to upset me and torment me. Hell, they can drive me crazy, but there was a reason I loved them in the first place, and that was what I relearn every spring. After the football season ends, the sports world turns quiet. Combine this with the darkness and cold of winter, and there really is nothing much to look forward to for those brief days after Super Bowl Sunday for a sports fan. However, that's when those four words enter into the minds of a baseball fan, the words that make one love their team all over again, and prepare themselves for the road ahead, no matter if it is filled with nights of anger and loathing, or nights of joy and laughter. "Pitchers and Catchers report," has a special place in the minds of a baseball fan, because it is the signal to start dreaming again, to start loving the team again, to start looking forward to the sun, the blue sky and the sounds of baseball in summer. It starts in Spring, when the four words come to mind.
The Houston Astros will be my team forever, and this Spring made me know it. I never thought I would be excited for Spring Training, excited to hear about how none of the Astros youngsters can hit, field or throw, and how this team is a lock to lose 90 games. Yet I was, and I am. I am as excited as I have been every year. I needed the break that the offseason gave me, but I am ready to commit myself to this team again, for another 8 months, for another 162 regular season games, another twenty or so Spring Training games and, God willing, some postseason games.
A sports fan is usually in a depressed state (about his teams, mind you, not in life in general - just wanted to point out that discrepancy, just in case anyone was worried that my overall emotional state was in despair and the 'Stros rescued me from a fiery end). More often than not, your team doesn't win, and if you get unlucky enough, your team might lose spectacularly, either in total embarrassment (like being a Pirates fan) or in some scarring way that leaves you in a shell (like the Colts with the exception of 2006). Few events have the power to lift a sports fan out of that depression that don't involve a playoff run or championship. For some it is the draft, which for NFL fans is almost like their Spring Training, where the opportunities seem endless. For me, it is Spring Training. It allows me to quickly get over football, which is usually hard given the ridiculous nature in which the Colts have in recent playoff years, and switch my attention to something that truly needs it: the Astros. Baseball teams need attention, they need time. 162 games is a lot to ask for, and you need to be willing to be there for them all (not exactly watch them all, but still take them all in) to be a true fan. It is a daunting task, but one that seems easy when the Pitchers & Catchers report, when a baseball fans' love springs eternal.
