It's Raining, It's Snowing, The Old Man Blah, Blah, Blah...

The Baltimore-Washington area has received more snow this season than Minneapolis and Anchorage. Here in the New York area, four snows in just the past two weeks. Is it me or do you also feel warmer knowing that somewhere pitchers will be popping the gloves of their catchers? Spring training officially begins tomorrow with pitchers and catchers reporting. Twelve teams are scheduled to being workouts Thursday -- with the 18 others over the next week. Cleveland's first workout isn't until the 23rd while Minnesota and Milwaukee are last with full-squad workouts on the 27th. The Twins traditionally have been one of the last teams to report. Their formula is simple: they simply count backward from Opening Day to figure out how much time is needed. Is spring training too long? Probably. Starting pitchers are probably the only ones who need the full six weeks to get ready. If spring training were to be shortened, rosters would need to be expanded at the start of the season to accommodate extra pitchers. Long or short, spring training is the best racket in American professional sports.