orange you glad it's baseball season?

i'm visiting family in south florida and trying to follow the games in japan at the same time. it's hard, but i've got my laptop, which keeps the a's at my fingertips! i've been reading joe blanton's new mlblog, and i really enjoy his writing; he seems honest and personable, and i look forward to more of his posts.

i had hoped to go to my first spring training this year, but the trip just wasn't in the cards. i really wanted to paint my face green and gold and watch the paint melt off my face around 10am and drip down to my sneakers and cheer with a bunch of semi to fully hardcore fans under the beating desert sun, but with the team in such flux, it was hard to justify taking a week off to go to phoenix. plus, i kept wrestling with baking in a hotel room with kitchen; it most likely wouldn't work. i'd need baking sheets and ingredients and bowls and spoons and a timer... and how could i show up to a game or practice empty handed? i think it'd make me feel empty inside. or at least naked. and we don't want that to happen.

i am, though, thinking of checking out the orioles vs. mets game here in ft. lauderdale on monday (as long as the rain holds off). i've tried rationalizing this, saying that it's the grapefruit league so it doesn't count. or does this make me a cheater?