Living in Florida has some benefits, one of the best of which is the entire month of March. The weather's often perfect and if not, just a little far from it, the spring breakers come down to lick tequila from each other's body parts, and then of course, there is the training of the spring.
Spring training baseball is a softer, gentler version of baseball. In some small Florida towns spring training can be a bit of a sleeping pill mixed with sport. Not in Tampa. But in other parts of Florida.
Tampa's a real city. And the Yankees are a huge draw. So, because spring training in Tampa is mixed in with the day's business (the cars whizzing by the stadium, the crack dealers struggling to make a buck in the lots, the sirens wailing down the avenues, etc.), and because the crowd is always sold out and loud, it's probably the hardest of the softer and the toughest of the gentler version of baseball.
Oh yeah, I attended Spring Training in Tampa today.
I got to see Billy Crystal strike out.
Now, if you had told me ten years ago that there would come a time when I would watch almost-60 year old Billy Crystal stand at a plate in a New York Yankee uniform and run the count full against a Pirate pitcher (Crystal even fouled one off) before striking out swinging on a low fast ball, I would have told you, “Man, that's a really detailed possible future scenario. And I still don't buy it.”
But it happened. As sure as my boss let me out early for work today it happened.
And I got to say that, even though the moment was contrived and stupid, I feel a little lucky.
I mean, how many of you have ever seen Billy Crystal strike out against a major league pitcher?
Of course, how many of you ever accidentally killed a cat with a bottle rocket?
Yeah, I guess it's all relative.
But anyway, I love March.