Spring Training is a wonderful time of year.  It portends warmer weather, hope for the future and of course, the beginning of a brand new baseball season.  As someone whose spirits lift dramatically at the mere utterance of the words “pitchers and catchers report” each February, I truly believe that Spring Training conveys much more than simply “preseason baseball”, as an ignorant colleague of mine spoke of it a few days ago.  However, one very important aspect of Spring Training that is not often mentioned is its educational power.  While players learn offensive strategies, signs and new practice drills, managers and executives take a look at their teams and try to learn as much as possible about each player’s level of talent and where their skills would be best used to begin the upcoming season.

The educational process does not stop there, however.  To the contrary, even the average fan can pick up insights into the lives of those around the game, gain a better understanding of the motivations of Maricopa County’s aging population, and garner plenty of other valuable information simply by staying around the game they love in the middle of March.  In no particular order, here are some of the important life lessons my dad and I gleaned from our father-son trip to the Valley of the Sun.

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Recently we received a comment from a reader regarding our predictions, and I think the topic he brought up is probably worth its own piece.  The reader felt like I unfairly predicted that the Yankees would finish the year third in the AL East behind Boston and Tampa, who I predicted would both finish 2011 in the playoffs.  Before I continue, I would like to mention that I think the AL East will be a very tight division, particularly in the battle for second place.  The Yankees are one of the best offensive teams in baseball, and they certainly deserve a great deal of respect for that, but everything else they do is far from representative of a playoff-caliber team.

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After reading Dee’s write-up of his draft picks, I would like to add my own review of the Denslow Cup 2011 draft.  Before we get into my picks and reasoning, let me tell you this: the league is filled with nerds, and playing in an OBP league drastically changes the way our draft goes as compared to other 5×5 leagues.  The draft was highly competitive, and was fantastic.  As Dee mentioned in his article, he and I gathered with a couple friends of the league, shared some suds and BBQ, and had our spring Christmas.  Just as with Christmas, entering draft day you never know what you are going to get.  By the end of it, you got a ton of stuff (or guys) and now it is time to see how it all works out.  I am incredibly optimistic about this year’s squad, So Fresh ‘n So Sheen Sheen, and where we can finish.  Last year was a debacle, with me finishing 13^th out of 16 teams.  This year we shaved 4 teams, and the rosters are representative of that.  So, without further ado, I present to you a team flowing with tiger’s blood and bi-winning, and that is about to right all the wrongs of 2010: So Fresh ‘n So Sheen Sheen.

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Ryan Langerhans records golden sombrero against Oakland (4/1/2011)

Top 2: Langerhans grounds out to second baseman Mark Ellis

Top 4: Langerhans strikes out swinging against Trevor Cahill

Top 5: Langerhans strikes out swinging against Jeremy Blevins

Top 7: Langerhans called out on strikes against Craig Breslow

Top 9: Langerhans strikes out swinging against Michael Wuertz

Shin-Soo Choo records golden sombrero against White Sox (4/2/2011)

Bottom 1: Choo walks against Edwin Jackson

Bottom 2: Choo strikes out swinging against Jackson

Bottom 5: Choo strikes out swinging against Jackson

Bottom 7: Choo strikes out swinging against Chris Sale

Bottom 9: Choo called out on strikes against Sergio Santos