What I Learned at Spring Training

I went back Spring Training this weekend, and this is what I learned:

• David Wright does actually appear to be larger than life this year
• K-Rod was nowhere to be found. I also didn’t see Kelvim Escobar anywhere
• Darryl Strawberry is one of the nicest guys in the world. He signed autographs for everyone that asked. He took pictures and talked to people. He even kissed a baby. It’s like he’s making a run for President.
• A Yankee fans asked Darryl if he’s heading to Tampa  (for Yankees spring training) and he said, “Why would I want to go there?”
• The word around PSL is that Jose Reyes isn’t very fan friendly. I’m not sure that’s completely true. I think the people there based “fan friendliness” on autograph signing. Jose smiles and waves at all the fans. He spent a minute or so talking to my mom who was with me. In my opinion that’s a lot better than some guy who just shows up and ignores the fans, like some of the players did.
• If you are going to base autograph signing as a scale for fan friendliness, Omar Minaya is the most fan friendly guy  in PSL. He signed a ton of autographs yesterday.
• Luis Castillo and Jose Reyes got into a long throwing contest yesterday during warm ups that Jose Reyes ended up winning.
• Ike Davis has a gun for an arm. It seems like he can throw for miles.
• Fernando Tatis is wearing braces this season, which is good for him. His teammates also appear to enjoy it too. Reyes and Feliciano had a good time messing with Tatis about his braces.
• Rod Barajas is also really fan friendly. He spent a good amount of time talking to the fans, and genuinely appeared to want to talk to the fans.
• Bobby Parnell is really excited for this season. He was signing autographs and I asked if he’s ready and his face lit up and he said “O Yea!”
• A lot of the old people around PSL are in love with Jeff Francoeur. They kept talking about how nice he is and how he is always smiling.
• Ike Davis is a real nice guy. He looked to be completely exhausted after the workout, but didn’t leave until everyone who wanted his autograph got it.
• Ryota Igarashi‘s english is about as good as Luis Castillo’s power swing. I tried to talk to him between pitching stations, but there was a language barrier. I got him to sign a ball I had and I thanked him, to which he responded with “Thank You, Thank You.”
• Just as a heads up for people planning on going this spring. If you want to get autographs on baseballs, make sure you ask them to sign the sweet spot, or else they’ll sign it in some odd place. Hisanori Takahashi signed a ball on the laces yesterday.
• Lastly, just because Florida is called “The Sunshine State” it doesn’t mean there is sunshine everyday. It started raining at about the end of practice and everyone started saying “Why is it raining? It’s the sunshine state?” Then they would laugh out loud like they just told the funniest joke in the world. Maybe it just bothers me because I live in Florida.
• For Last Weeks News and Notes, Click Here

The whole team seems pumped and ready to go this year. I’m excited. If you are not sure whether you should try to get down the Spring Training this year, you should definitely try your best to get down there. It’s really a great experience.