Is April The Cruelest Month?

I guess if you're a Red Sox fan you'd have to say that October is. Even though I'm a Yankee fan, I didn't take a whole lot of pleasure in the savage beating the Yanks gave the Bosox last night. Boston's a much better team than that.

My son plays fall baseball and has a doubleheader every Sunday. Today I was watching his team play against a backdrop of fall colors on the Ramapo Mountains. I got to thinking about something I've always wanted to do but still have never gotten around to doing. I've always wanted to go down to Florida during spring training and follow the Yankees around the Grapefruit League. See the teams play while the hope of every fan, other than those rooting for the Mets, is still new, before the reality of the long season sets in. Everybody's still in the pennant race and the "next year" that all but the fans of the World Series winner has begun. 

When I was a kid one of the sports writers for our local paper used to go down to Florida and follow the Phillies, a team I detested. But I still used to enjoy his articles about the trips from one town to another, the restaurants he'd eat in, and the weather. I particularly enjoyed his stories about dinners with the other columnists at Bern's Steak House in Tampa. To me, getting to do that would be like a kid loose in a candy store.

I've been lucky enough to have visited Bern's, although not during spring training. I doubt I'll get around to it this coming spring but, who knows? When pitchers and catchers report hope always springs eternal, even in the hearts of the Red Sox fans.

File under From The Sports Desk.