Spring Training Boxscores

Yes, I read the boxscores from Spring Training. Yes, I realize that the stats are meaningless- even for the guys competing for jobs, their spring training stats are in no way representative of their abilities. Sixty at bats in March when no one gives a shit and half the pitchers you face won't come anywhere near a major league roster until September is not an effective measurement of a hitter's ability. In looking for an example of this for a paper I had to write, I came across this little tidbit: last year for the Yankees in Spring Training, Hideki Matsui hit .239 and Angel Berroa hit .377. Matsui, as we all know, has been getting blowjobs from the Japanese media every waking moment he's had since he won the World Series MVP. Angel Berroa got released in July, latched on with the Mets, and is now in Dodgers' camp on a minor league contract.

That doesn't stop me from reading the boxscores, though. They're like a ray of hope, a reminder that the winter is come and gone, and that baseball has returned to us once again. They also are a fun game of who's where- because of my 'graphing hobby, it is extremely rare for me to not know who a major league player is, but they're kinda hard to keep track of. Especially the fringe guys. Case in point- Charlie Zink, a knuckleballer who came up in the Red Sox system and has pitched for the Dodgers and (I think?) the White Sox organizations since then is now in Cardinals camp. The more you know.

Also, as meaningless as it is, it does get me stoked to see that Doc Halladay threw 2 shutout innings against the Yanks in his first Spring Training game, striking out Posada, Swisher, and Winn and allowing no hits. Granted, the other three hitters he faced were Cano, Hoffman, and Gardner- not exactly Jeter/ARod/Tex, but still- they were wearing Yankee uniforms, which is worth at least .015 wOBA points right there. Plus a little mystique and aura. Which reminds me, I never did get Alec a pair of tranny hookers named Mystique and Aura for his birthday. Oh well- there's always next year.

-Terence