Spring Training brings a lot of completely fantastic things, but also brings one thing that is, well, only kinda-sorta fantastic. I’m talking spring-debuts. Those strange, wonderful first appearances of a player who you usually haven’t seen in what feels like millions of years, due to injury. At some point during Spring Training, they come out for their long-awaited first appearance and leave me a serious ball of nerves. Observe:
That’s me during spring-debuts. Because I am really excited and I do really want the player in question to rock all our socks off (Exhibit A: Excited) but I’m also just scared out of my head (Exhibit B: Scared Out of My Head). What if everything goes terribly? It makes me feel like a party planner again or something. Fun Fact About Diamond Girl: I ran a party planning business for three ill-fated weeks several summers ago. Still around?
Anyhow. The point here is, I don’t like being reminded of those party planning days. Or being a ball of nerves, period. So Buster Posey/Brian Wilson/et al.? Keep that one in mind when you bash yourselves up this year, m’kay? Now allow me smother you in comfort food and welcome you back to the show.
Diamond Girl
DG, I remember in 2004, flying from NYC to SF with the family. We were on Jet Blue so we had 35 channels and were watching the first Dodgers game of the season. An unknown player named James Loney came to bat and went deep. Been rooting for him ever since.
I have to say, while I have the appropriate amount of Dodger loathing for a Giants fan, I do have a soft spot for Loney. I think somewhere along the line I subconsciously thought his name was actually Lonely, so I felt obliged to feel badly for him. Ah, well. One must have empathy for the enemy.