steveofbradenton
Veteran
Watching Spring Training, the FCL, and the Florida State League
Posts: 1,826
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Post by steveofbradenton on Feb 14, 2016 9:01:39 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong.....I'm a big football fan, but this photo captures my priorities.
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Post by fan72 on Feb 14, 2016 11:36:39 GMT -5
Football represents the cold of fall and winter. Baseball represents the renewal of life in spring and summer.
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steveofbradenton
Veteran
Watching Spring Training, the FCL, and the Florida State League
Posts: 1,826
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Post by steveofbradenton on Feb 14, 2016 12:31:21 GMT -5
I've always thought of baseball that way, especially when I lived in PA, NY, and NJ. The birds (and the bees) were just around the corner and I couldn't wait for the trees to leaf out. Living in SW Florida, it isn't quite the same.....but I doubt I will ever stop thinking of spring being close. I actually am a big fan of all sports, but baseball represented so much more!
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Post by humanbeingbean on Feb 14, 2016 12:52:27 GMT -5
With it being 7 degrees where I live in Massachusetts, baseball sure is a comforting thought.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Feb 14, 2016 12:54:47 GMT -5
Read an article on OTM. Can someone explain to me the whole "invited to major league camp" thing. Do they simply work out with the big club on field 1 & Jet Blue, or wherever the big club practices on? Does the Pawtucket team practice with 15 guys instead of their normal 25? They work out on the "major league" side of the complex, which includes field 1 and Jet Blue Park. They work with the major league coaching staff and are the first subs or occasional starters during the exhibition games. Once minor league camp starts up, most players start at a level higher than they'll be expected to start 2016 in. As the non-roster invitees and other 40 man players are sent down, it creates a domino effect for the rest of the players. For example, Wendell Rijo may work out on the AAA field to begin, but when Sean Coyle or Marco Hernandez gets sent to the minor league fields, he'll go to AAA and Rijo will get bumped to AA where he's expected to open the season. This also challenges the players to play "over their heads" a little during the minor league exhibition games as they face more advanced competition. This. Plus I'd add that the players receiving invites are technically trying to make the team, although obviously not all 55-60 really have a shot. Most of the players with no shot are back in minor league camp by midway through. And "working with their teammates" is really overrated on the milb side - that would only really matter if the point was for those teams to win. But yeah, early in camp, the "Pawtucket Red Sox" are mostly guys heading to Portland, and so forth.
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Post by fan72 on Feb 14, 2016 13:09:56 GMT -5
With it being 7 degrees where I live in Massachusetts, baseball sure is a comforting thought. I live in upstate Newyork right now it's -6, can't wait for baseball to start.
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Post by h11233 on Feb 14, 2016 17:02:53 GMT -5
I'm going to the March 13 game @rays, anyone been to their park? Any suggestions on a good place to grab some food in the area or anything else that will make the day more enjoyable?
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Post by grandsalami on Feb 14, 2016 17:22:08 GMT -5
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Post by grandsalami on Feb 14, 2016 17:22:55 GMT -5
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Post by soxfanatic on Feb 14, 2016 18:05:28 GMT -5
About time we found out what the guy can't do.
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steveofbradenton
Veteran
Watching Spring Training, the FCL, and the Florida State League
Posts: 1,826
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Post by steveofbradenton on Feb 14, 2016 19:41:25 GMT -5
I'm going to the March 13 game @rays, anyone been to their park? Any suggestions on a good place to grab some food in the area or anything else that will make the day more enjoyable? I've been to a couple of games in Port Charlotte and I can tell you to get there a little early. Parking is behind the stadium and hopefully there was no rain the day before as the parking lot can be a mess (trust me). As to eating choices, I have no idea. The park is out by itself with nothing much around it. If you've been to the ballparks in Sarasota or Fort Myers, you'll find this one is just OK.
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Post by beany24 on Feb 14, 2016 22:35:16 GMT -5
I live 10 minutes from the Rays ST park. Messy parking is only a problem during the summer rainy season. The park itself is new, clean, and very well conditioned. Nice sightlines all around with a boardwalk circling the OF with a good sized Tiki bar. Starting a mile north of the park there are dozens of restaurants and a large shopping mall. Steve is correct about getting to the park early, at least 45 minutes, and it can be kind of slow emptying out post game.
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Post by sittingstill on Feb 15, 2016 9:44:33 GMT -5
I'm going to the March 13 game @rays, anyone been to their park? Any suggestions on a good place to grab some food in the area or anything else that will make the day more enjoyable? It is a great little park. If you grab something to eat at the park (and if the concessions haven't changed!) I highly recommend the fried fish sandwich at the stand on the right field line behind the berm seating. Big, fresh fried fillet on a soft roll--definitely the best food I've ever had in a spring training park. (It did lead to my ordering a fish sandwich in April at Hadlock, only to be sorely disappointed when their version proved to be a fish stick in a hot dog bun.)
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Post by jimed14 on Feb 15, 2016 9:58:18 GMT -5
Mookie is lucky no one got hurt. We all are.
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Post by soxfanatic on Feb 15, 2016 10:03:26 GMT -5
Mookie is lucky no one got hurt. We all are. He didn't drive in. It rolled in after he parked.
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steveofbradenton
Veteran
Watching Spring Training, the FCL, and the Florida State League
Posts: 1,826
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Post by steveofbradenton on Feb 15, 2016 10:29:43 GMT -5
Mookie is lucky no one got hurt. We all are. He didn't drive in. It rolled in after he parked. Love to see Mookie parallel park. I bet that is a hoot!
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Post by templeusox on Feb 15, 2016 10:35:19 GMT -5
I understand it's just perspective and present company, but Uehara looks weirdly gigantic in this photo.
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Post by jimed14 on Feb 15, 2016 11:12:09 GMT -5
Mookie is lucky no one got hurt. We all are. He didn't drive in. It rolled in after he parked. That makes sense. I assumed he was screwing around.
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Post by soxfanatic on Feb 15, 2016 11:15:47 GMT -5
Rusney was taking grounders at third base today. Not sure what that means, if anything.
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Post by soxfanatic on Feb 15, 2016 11:26:49 GMT -5
From MLBTR
Indeed, this is potentially huge. I thought Castillo did indeed look good in LF last year, but never realized the metrics back that up big time.
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Post by The Town Sports Cards on Feb 15, 2016 13:01:01 GMT -5
Rusney was taking grounders at third base today. Not sure what that means, if anything. I've seen Saltalamacchia take grounders at 3rd, Dan Butler fielding throws at 1st and Will Middlebrooks working at SS during the Spring. It's Spring Training sometimes they jump around to diff positions as a goof, they need extra bodies for that drill, or to work on specific things. Maybe Rusney is getting extra work on his shorter throws (LF in Fenway to 2B is pretty close to to 3B to 1B) and they didn't have someone available to take throws from him in the OF? I wouldn't read too much into it.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Feb 15, 2016 14:15:03 GMT -5
From MLBTR Indeed, this is potentially huge. I thought Castillo did indeed look good in LF last year, but never realized the metrics back that up big time. That jives with the eyeball test. It was obvious he was a vast improvement over Ramirez out there in that dirty corner, the one with the big wall that has pinball bumpers jutting out from it. I guess this gives us one small indicator of that. All I know is that it was a tremendous relief to have him going back on those fly balls.
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Post by jimed14 on Feb 15, 2016 16:19:21 GMT -5
Some Vazquez news - He's starting to throw to bases and he has lost 20 pounds. Nice articleFirst time I've said that about Cafardo.
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Post by sox fan in nc on Feb 15, 2016 16:21:38 GMT -5
I'm trying not to make too much out of this. I've been playing golf for 45 years, most of them using golf carts. Many of these rounds I had more than a few beverages in me. The parking brake is not a rocket science maneuver & I never came close to anything remotely resembling this. I also grew up in So Fla with a lot of canals, lakes, ect, so the water WAS there. Mookie is a world class athlete, how does this happen?
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Post by chavopepe2 on Feb 15, 2016 18:16:23 GMT -5
I'm trying not to make too much out of this. I've been playing golf for 45 years, most of them using golf carts. Many of these rounds I had more than a few beverages in me. The parking brake is not a rocket science maneuver & I never came close to anything remotely resembling this. I also grew up in So Fla with a lot of canals, lakes, ect, so the water WAS there. Mookie is a world class athlete, how does this happen? It happens by not setting the parking brake or by having a faulty/out of adjustment parking brake. Both of these happen regardless of whether they've happened to you and are completely independent of ones athleticism.
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