Yesterday was officially the first day of Spring, even though the Spring weather already arrived weeks ago.  I guess this arbitrary date is as good as any to kick the countdown to Opening Day into high gear.  We still have the conclusion to the 9/28/11 series which we hope to wrap up very soon, but the in the mean time I plan on spending the next few weeks throwing up various blogs, videos, music, and whatever else pops into my mind to get ready for the 2012 Orioles season. To kick things off, here is the video for "Black and Orange (Official Orioles Anthem)" by Dboi Da Dome, E' From Da Wic and Jay Luv.  I am not so sure that I would call it an Orioles anthem (official or otherwise) as besides for a couple generic mentions of "birds", a reference to Cal Ripken in the refrain and the O's -related clothing and scenery in the video, the song doesn't have all that much to do with the team.  I'm nitpicking though.  It is one of the better spin-offs of "Black and Yellow" I have heard and the song/video definitely have a strong Baltimore feel. 

The Orioles opened up the Grapefruit League season yesterday playing a split squad double header.  A team comprised mainly of minor leaguers and players hoping to latch on in reserve roles traveled to face the Rays in the afternoon game.  The night game saw the O’s regulars take the field in Sarasota against the Pirates for the O’s Spring Training home opener.  The night cap was broadcast on MASN, the first of six spring training games that will be shown on the network.  I caught most of the night game on television.  It probably goes without saying, but it isn’t wise to read too much either way (positive or negative) into Spring Training games, especially games this early on.  There are just so many variables effecting Spring Training games that you generally don’t see during the regular season.  This includes players not yet being in mid-season condition, guys tinkering with various parts of their game, lineups shuffled around, and pitchers rarely pitching more than a couple of innings the first few times out.  All of those are significant variables that make Spring games dramatically different from regular season games and thus make it difficult to accurately judge performance as a result.  It can be hard to cut through all that other noise to really see how well a player performed. 

The baseball offseason is 3 ½ months of rumors, predictions, hype, and projections.  I find it frustrating more than anything – it is all planning and discussion without any action.  I used to work for a public accounting firm and I liken Spring Training to the two or so months leading up to the start of tax season.  You would spend months discussing upcoming work and planning it out, without actually doing much of anything.  By the time February rolled around, I almost looked forward to working on an actual tax return.  The baseball offseason is just like, only longer and more frustrating in some ways. Then you get to the start of Spring Training, which is of course where we are right now with Orioles pitchers and catchers set to report to Sarasota this weekend.  Baseball fans treat the day that pitchers and catchers report to camp as some sort of ritual that symbolizes the beginning of a new baseball season.  That is great and all, except for one thing – we still have close to a month and a half to go before the real games actually begin.  I like Spring Training because a little baseball is better than no baseball.  At the same time, Sprint Training isn’t all that it is cracked up to be.  It really amounts to nothing more than a veritable tease.  Baseball isn’t really back when Spring Training starts; it is only sort of back.