Liga Dominicana

Today feels like that day. Yesterday felt more like that day. Every baseball player knows what I'm talking about. When winter is over, there is a warm breeze blowing, and no longer are you covered in eight layers during BP. I know that most people reading this are freezing right now and that my biased Miami body is a little premature but, I can't control this glorious 80 degree weather. Moving on.
The weather sparked something in me that I wasn't really sure would ever come back, or even, that I wanted to come back. I might actually like baseball again? This will be my second Spring without spending 60 hrs a week dong baseball related stuff (and I'm still OK with that, in fact, I'm thrilled). But when I left, I resented the game so much that in the '08 MLB season I watched my beloved Braves lose to that so-called baseball team that Washington puts out on the field on opening day, and that was it. No more baseball the rest of the year, and this was the year that the Rays made that incredible run in October! Baseball was dead inside of me. I had no problem walking away from the game. But the other day, in one of the rare free moments of my day, I logged on the ESPN360.com and watched game three of the Dominican League Finals and I saw something. JOY and genuine LOVE for the game. Something I once had and I realized, I kind of missed. And I realized why I missed it. It was because baseball essentially made me who I am (the God thing is the real reason I am who I am, I'm driving a point home). It's hard, no, impossible to do something for an extended period of time and not have that thing rub off on you. And for 22 years baseball was life and the thing that rubbed, pushed, drove, lifted, controlled, forced me to run around in a circle four times in under 6 minutes or do it again four times in college, ten, wait, twelve hr bus rides, double stupid headers, "Pierce, go run for him", there's a gate, there's a gate, there's a gate, but also there was that game against Indiana (that whole weekend really), that, I mean, those games in Auburn, Two ball (two time champ in my career) and absolutely the BEST part of baseball....the teammates, especially bull pin catchers and pitchers with 0.00 ERAs (woot).
As this day warms up to perfect, I might head over to the batting cages (probably not), and I might put on my glove (where is it again), and later I might meander on over to Reuben Dario Park to watch the Cubans play (only if there is Dos Equis, media noches, and good music). If not I can say with absolute certainty that, for me, the life of a fan is much, much better. How big of a fan I will be..............that is TBA.