Let’s Get Ready For Tan Lines!

Things are getting pretty hectic around here at Catch It Kansas as the winter postseason is upon us. Before we shower the cream of the winter-athlete crop with the coverage they deserve, I am going to take a minute to look to the spring season.

For me, there are few things in life more glorious than having baseball and softball as an excuse to go sit out in the sun after a long, frigid winter.

Ah, I can almost feel it already.

I need the sores on my inner cheek and gums from the amazingly delicious salt overload of an enormous mouthful of sunflower seeds, the deep pondering of situational strategy, the lazy comfort of my favorite camping chair parked in front of the fence down one of the baselines, and the sting of a bad sunburn.

A bad sunburn a good thing? Look, the choice between sunburned and frostbitten is no choice at all as far as I’m concerned.

That week or so of single digit temperatures brought me to my knees in praise of indoor sports. But it also made me hungry for spring.

The diamond is where humans reconnect after a long exile to the depressing land of sofas, space heaters, and TVs. It’s as though we have all come out of hibernation, rubbed the sleep out of our eyes, and had our brains awakened by the immediate philosophical questions:

· This hitter hasn’t caught up to the fastball all day. Do you risk hanging an 0-2 curveball?

· Do you bunt with the best bat in the lineup to advance a runner down by one in the bottom of the seventh?

· How long should this team continue to ride this pitcher?

· Would a hit-and-run here pay off, opening up a huge hole on the right side?

· How do we get a ground ball here to get out of trouble with an inning-ending double play?

· Corners in for four-then-one or roll it up the middle?

· (Sniff) What’s that smell? It’s so familiar. Ah, yes! I remember! It’s barbecue! How can I get in on some of that?!

Umm, pulled pork sandwiches with sauce dripping down my face, how I’ve missed you.

Lazy days spent out in the sunlight aren’t quite here yet. But the start of winter postseasons mean it’s time to start thinking this way.

I can’t wait.