"Pitchers and catchers report." Four words that pass through the baseball fan like an electrical shock. Baseball fans know what I mean. I wish the late Don Miles, a WDIY loyalist and board member — in fact, I'm recording this in the studio just off the Don Miles News Room at the station — was alive to hear it. Don often showed up at our occasional coffee talks at Wegmans wearing his Phillies cap and looking every bit like a little kid waiting for the start of the season.
"Pitchers and catchers report" is, for many as it was for Don, the harbinger of Spring. For others, it may be Valentine's Day or a sprig of mint appearing in the tangled mess in the backyard, but "pitchers and catchers report" is that harbinger for baseball fans.
Now, if I'm being completely accurate, pitchers and catchers have already reported, and as I record this, full squads are now dutifully reporting to Spring training sites in Florida and Arizona. So many things have changed in baseball: 98 mile-per-hour sliders, the designated hitter, five complete innings being considered a strong performance by a starting pitcher. But the ritual of Spring training remains relatively unchanged.
Now, the origins of Spring training are hazy. Evidence seems to point to the Cincinnati Red Stockings and Chicago White Sox starting the tradition way back in 1870 in New Orleans. Now, did they choose New Orleans because of its warm climes that would enable players to get in shape, or did they choose New Orleans because it was kind of a sin city; a wild place where players could sow some wild oats before the long season began? I suspect it might have been a little bit of both.
It seems to be widely recognized that the Philadelphia Phillies started the tradition of teams going to Florida when they trained in Jacksonville in 1889. They have been in their current Florida home in Clearwater since 1947. I remember every year, my father would see the photo in the Philadelphia papers of pitchers and catchers loading up the cart to report to spring training — it was reliable as rain — and he would say something like, "You know, we gotta get down there one year for spring training." Well, we never made it.
Actually, there was a logical justification for spring training back in the old days. Most players had offseason jobs because their salaries were not substantial enough, and many were horribly out of shape come February. And I'm not talking about the ancient ancient days. Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto, Yankee immortals, sold suits. Jim Palmer worked in a clothing store. There's a memorable photo of boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson visiting Jackie Robinson in the electronics store where Jackie was employed in the offseason.
But now, is spring training that necessary? For over six weeks? Pro basketball players show up on Media Day, take a few photos, run a few plays, and leave for an exhibition game pretty much the same day. Even pro football, which I think we can agree takes a bit of preparation, seemed to play exhibition games sooner than baseball. But baseball clings to this glorious tradition of heading to Florida and Arizona and winding gradually into the season, working out all those winter kinks, even though every player has been working out every day, and giving the senior citizens something to talk about. A hope for the coming season, and the thought that warm weather is right around the corner.
The Fightin' Phils are down there now. It's a full 40 or so days before their regular season opener on March 27th, but hey, on the baseball calendar, it's none too soon. So get your score card out, Don Miles, it's right around the corner.
