Read the opposing arguments from Bleacher Fan and Babe Ruthless.
Spring Training. I think part of the reason this has become an issue is because the length of the entire baseball season, and that the possibility of the World Series being played in November has quickly become a reality and almost a certainty every year. Thus, why not cut into Spring Training to eliminate that possibility? Hmmm let’s take a look at the pros and cons of Spring Training
Bleacher Fan fully questions the length of Spring Training. An analogy is made comparing Spring Training to taking the practice SAT (which I actually took once back in the day) in preparation for the real SAT. Some fans have made the comparison between preseason football and Spring Training, thought Bleacher Fan argues that it really is not a fair comparison. I happen to agree with that point, and actually, so does Babe Ruthless. You really cannot compare the two. While it’s true that starters play sparingly in at least two of the preseason games, baseball often has split squad games in Spring Training where half the team stays at home while the other half of the team loads up on the chartered Greyhound and travels across the state. It’s really hard to get a feel for how a team will do record-wise when players are so scattered.
Babe Ruthless does not even bother touching wins and losses in Spring Training, and that is a good choice because it’s a dead end road for many of the reasons Bleacher Fan stated. What Spring Training does do, according to Babe Ruthless, is build team camaraderie and chemistry (hmmm, haven’t we touched on team chemistry before on TSD?) It’s a chance for new free agents to get used to his new teammates on the field. I also fully remember the Rays-Yankees example Babe highlights. After watching countless replays of it, I remember thinking, “Wow, those kids aren’t backing down.” They carried that attitude all the way to an American League pennant. The tone of that season was set in Spring Training.
I am siding with Babe Ruthless on this debate because I was not convinced by Bleacher Fan’s argument. We can all agree that wins and losses are not important at all in Spring Training. I consider myself a huge Braves fan, but I couldn’t tell anyone with certainty what their record is so far this Spring. But I can tell you individual stories about how some of the players have performed and how some of the new guys have fit in. It’s a time for the teams to evaluate the potential of the rookies. That is what Spring Training is for, in essence. Like Babe Ruthless wrote, it is a time to build cohesiveness. It is a time to lay the groundwork for the season. It is a time to work on fundamentals and, often times, to go over new signs – especially with the ever-changing rosters of each team.
It is also important to for hitters to get their timing down and for pitchers to build up their arm strength. If you threw pitchers right into the fire without stretching their arm out over the course of Spring Training, then even more pitchers would have to pay a visit to Dr. James Andrews.
Spring Training is definitely relevant and is a necessary grind in order to get ready for the grueling 162 game season.
