The sights, the sounds, of Spring Training baseball. I think I even got a whiff of suntan lotion as I watched the first real game action from Clearwater. And as is our tradition, my husband, son and I had the appropriate meal (prepared by the hubby) as well.
Even Tito (making his first blog appearance of the season) couldn’t wait for that first pitch.
And let me say we all enjoyed every minute of it, especially the homemade crab fries!
So, now that the first weekend of exhibition games are behind us, what have we learned?
Well, we learned that Cole Hamels looks great with a 5:00 shadow. And oh yeah, his change-up looked pretty good, too.
We learned that the Doc looked like….well, the Doc! The Tigers 16-year veteran Tory Hunter said of Halladay’s first appearance that his pitches were “filthy” and his velocity was “sneaky fast.”
There was even a Chase Utley sighting, on the field! He had a line drive rbi single in his first at bat and went from first to third when nobody was looking. Vintage Chase.
And did you see new center fielder Ben Revere? Only if you looked quick because he is faaaaast.
We learned that Ryan Howard is getting that stroke back with his two doubles and an RBI on Sunday.
And Domonic “now or never” Brown had a pinch hit home run as he continues to try to make his case to be the Phils starting right fielder.
Now the news wasn’t all good. Michael Young looks a bit rusty at third, a position he hasn’t played regularly for several years. In fact, the Phillies defense, a definite concern going into the season, looked like they were playing the first game of spring training, which they were. So no time to panic yet.
In fact, I’ll just savor the good moments and enjoy the long-awaited return of my favorite sport. Right Tito?
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Oh well, he must be saving his energy for Opening Day!
Susan,
Its still early…and there is some rust out there, but there are signs of life……..so we shall keep our fingers crossed and an eye on the progress