And so it begins: Spring Training 2014

Feb 21, 2014; Ft Myers, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox manager

(53) watches batting practice during spring training at JetBlue Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Red Sox play their first Spring Training game today. The score doesn’t matter but the results do.

The opponents are not the hated Yankees or those pesky Rays, but college athletes from Northeastern and Boston College. The doubleheader begins at 1:05pm in Fort Myers. The odds are the Sox will win, but that isn’t the point of these games. Spring Training games are not about winning or losing, but about getting the boys back into the baseball state of mind. It affords fans, coaches, and trainers a chance to see how players may have recovered from serious injuries or how new guys will fit into the mix.

For us fans specifically, Spring Training provides an excuse to get excited for baseball again even though the regular season is still about a month away. Those of us stuck here in the Northeast surrounded by snow and constantly harassed by the frozen air will enjoy seeing footage of the sun shining down on our boys in Florida. It makes us think that we aren’t that far away from a time when we too can sit in the warm air watching the Sox take the field in those bright white uniforms.

How will Grady Sizemore look batting lead off? Can Jackie Bradley Jr. man center field? Will Ryan Lavarnway impress at catcher? We will begin to get the answers to these and other burning questions as the boys of summer begin their Spring Training games.

Play Ball!