A Day in Front of the Tube Watching Spring Training Baseball

I plead guilty, baseball fever has consumed me, after the Red Sox won the World Series last October there hasn't been any kind of Major League Baseball on television, until yesterday.

Starting with ESPN's inaugural Spring game between the Dodgers and Braves, and including three other games broadcast on mlbtv.com it was a full day of Spring fever.

The Braves Dodgers game was intriguing as the pitching matchup featured Jar Jurjeans, whom the Braves acquired from the Tigers in the Edgar Renteria deal. The Dodgers countered with Hideki Kudoma, who was the big free agent acquisition from Japan. Jurjeans struggled in his two innings of work as he allowed a run, which came off the bat of Adam Laroche as he doubled into CF.

Laroche is another interesting story as he is looking to unseat incumbent Nomar Garciappara from his job at 3b. Kudoma looked solid for the Dodgers as the Braves were not able to get many good swings off of him. Kudoma will play an integral role for the Dodgers this year, as the rotation has some health concerns with Brad Penny, Derek Lowe and now Chad Billingsley.

The other big story of the day took place in the New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals game. Johan Santana made his Mets debut and it was an inauspicious one at that. Santana gave up a three run homer to Juan Gonzalez, yes that Juan Gonzalez. Santana didn't give up any runs in his second inning of work, but was still hit hard, as the Cardinals consistently made solid contact off of him.

The Gonzalez comeback is a great story for the Cardinals as their offense is in need of a resurgence. The club also saw a familiar sign as Albert Pujols unloaded on a Duaner Sanchez pitch and blasted it into left field. The Cardinals aren't expected to contend this season, but it would give fans a reason to come to the ballpark if Pujols can return to full health this season.

The Padres took on the Royals later in the afternoon, and this game got off to a rough start for the Padres. The Royals tacked on six runs in the first inning capped off by a Russ Gload two run homer. Another good sign for the Royals was a solid double hit by the enigmatic Justin Huber in the first inning.

The Padres saw some good news later on as 2b prospect Matt Antonelli hit a home run during his first Spring Training at bat this season.

The last game on the tube occured in the evening as the Red Sox faced off against the Twins. This game featured a lot of young new faces, as the Red Sox have perhaps the best farm team in the majors, and the Twins have a lot of young new faces after acquiring Delmon Young, and getting 5 prospects from the Mets for Santana.

The Red Sox saw some good developments from Dice K as he only threw 23 pitches in two innings for the Sox as he held the Twins hitless in his two innings of work. Boof Boonzer also looked impressive for the Twins as he worked hard in the off-season to shed some weight.

Although nobody will remember these results even a month from now, it was nice to actually have some live Major League Baseball on the tube for once, and now the withdrawals are finally cured.