The Baseball Post: Spring Training

Spring training really begins for the Twins tonight with their first actual game against their cross town rivals [at least in Ft. Meyers, Florida] the Boston Red Sox.   There isn’t any sound like a bat hitting a ball which I associate more closely with summer.  Suffice it to say: I am extremely excited that baseball is back.  Its really quite an irrational feeling, but I refuse to do anything to temper it.

I can only imagine what it must feel like to be a young player at Training Camp, working on your skills alongside of some of the greatest baseball players in the world.  Many of these rookies are actually learning from their childhood idols and heroes.  How cool would that be?  So for the next couple of weeks we have a mini baseball season consisting of 35 games.  Its always exciting to see who makes the team by playing well enough to impress the coaches in those games.  Baseball’s back.

The only downside, is that Boof Bonser, one of my favorite Twins pitcher, underwent surgery this morning, and the found injuries they never dreamed would have been there.  So it looks like Boof will be out for the majority of the 2009 season if not more.  At least he has one of the coolest names around; I wish all the best to Boof, and hope for a speedy recovery.

The game is at 7:05 pm EST on both MLB Network and MLB.tv.

The Red Sox will be starting: 1. Ellsbury, CF. 2. MVP, 2B. 3. Youkilis, 3B. 4. Jason Bay, LF. 5. Wilkerson, RF. 6. Lowrie, SS. 7. Bailey, DH. . 8. Bard, C. 9. Gil Velazquez, 5. Pitching: Wakefield. [Source]

The Twins have said that Carlos Gomez will not play while Justin Morneau, Nick Punto, Alexi Casilla, Brian Buscher, Mike Redmond, Wilson Ramos, and Chris Butera will see time in the field for the Twins.  Glen Perkins, Joe Nathan, Jesse Crain and Bobby Keppel are on the list to pitch. [Source]

Enjoy the game!