The cold temperatures do a nice job of breaking a man’s spirit. However, even frigid conditions can’t temper the excitement over the dawning of a new baseball season, which for Boston Red Sox fans will kick off on February 15th when pitchers and catchers report to camp in Fort Myers, Florida. From there, it will all roll downhill until the regular season officially starts when the team visits the Baltimore Orioles on March 31st.<\/p>\n
Spring training is a time to get to know the team. Sure, the roster is returning a lot of familiar faces but the attitude and feel of the squad changes from year to year. Heck, some seasons it even changes from week to week.<\/p>\n
Personally, I like spring training. The games are glorified practices, and wins and losses really (or lack thereof) and what they can potentially bring, and in the worst cases, what they might take away from the team.<\/p>\n
With less than a month remaining until spring training kicks off, here is what I am looking forward to most about the Red Sox’s camp:<\/p>\n
What will be planned for 2014? Perhaps nothing, but if another trend emerges, my vote would be for big belt buckles—assuming those pass MLB regulations muster. Fans should stay tuned on the edge of their seats because if there is something new, it will likely be fodder for popular t-shirt designs later in the season.<\/p>\n
Although he went on to hit just .189 in 37 games in Boston during the regular season, his otherworldly performance before the games mattered, developed his reputation and solidified his stock as one of Boston’s most prized prospects. <\/span><\/p>\n With all the kids getting kudos on current prospect lists, any number of candidates might be this year’s Bradley. Seeing who pulls ahead around early March will be fun to say the least.<\/p>\n It was only about five years ago he was considered one of the best players in the majors; a true five-tool player on the cusp of superstar status. Then things unraveled quickly.<\/p>\n Of course, the odds are stacked against Boston’s newest hero, but until he absolutely proves otherwise, there’s no reason to count him out before he even takes the field for the first time in a Red Sox uniform. Although his comeback may go off the tracks at any time, as long as he has a bat and a glove, and is still able to stand upright, there is always a chance he could go all Roy Hobbs.<\/p>\n Andrew Martin is the founder of “The Baseball Historian”<\/a> blog where he posts his thoughts about baseball on a regular basis. He can be reached at historianandrew@gmail.com. You can also reach him on Twitter at @historianandrew<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The cold temperatures do a nice job of breaking a man’s spirit. However, even frigid conditions can’t temper the excitement over the dawning of a new baseball season, which for Boston Red Sox fans will kick off on February 15th when pitchers and catchers report to camp in Fort Myers, Florida. From there, it will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":798,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n