Imagine standing on the wood platform of an old train station in a pint-sized, desert town; an island in a sea of bareness about 15 miles from a majestic mountain range that doesn't seem to ever end.
It's a late February morning and a frigid 20 degrees with a slight breeze. The skies are ashen with the thick morning clouds, and you're standing still trying to avoid the cold denim of your jeans from touching your legs. It's so cold that you can hear the crackling of icicles forming on the eaves of the old depot's roof.
The exhalation of your breath pours out of your nose and mouth like pillars of smoke blasting out of a steam engine...much like the one who is announcing its visit from afar with the shrill of a hungry T-Rex and those plumes of hot vapor.
This multi-ton string of steel pearls is coming for you. It's exploding down the track to pick you up and take you to a place that is a symbol of a new season. It's a place that is warmer, saturated with life, and brimming with opportunities.
Yes, the train has its flaws. The strong smell of soot, coal, and greasy steel penetrate your nostrils. It's also very loud. There's always some passengers that you don't get along with and the food is, well, edible. In the back of your mind, you wonder if one of the cars is injected with illegal goods as you really don't want the train to be grounded and detained before you reach your vibrant destination.
But, it's worth the risk to ride on this black and silver beauty. The feeling of being inside this conglomerate of steel fortresses is very comforting and safe. You can almost feel the history of this mode of transportation and this great country of ours vibrating through your bones as you tear down the track over the countryside.
In the last six months, this country has been through a nasty winter...literally and figuratively. Not only have temperatures, sleet, and snow fallen over most of the country this season, but people are losing their jobs, homes, and vehicles thanks to the frost-bitten ways of the economy. Others have felt (and are feeling) a strong arctic freeze with regards to their cash resources. Also, a new President has taken the reins of the White House, but it's components form a regime that, so far, strangely resembles the Titanic.
But, off in the distance, I hear an all-to-familiar sound. My gaze is gladly diverted while my heart flutters, and my blood flow increases exponentially. I hear the clanging of wooden bats as they are dumped out of an old duffel bag. A sphere of cowhide collides and pops with a slab of leather. The crack of a ball coming off one of those wood sabres pierces the atmosphere like a shotgun exploding in a canyon. I can also smell the freshly mowed grass and grilled hot dogs.
Baseball is coming.
This timeless institution, embedded with engrossing history and mythical lore, is such a refreshing and stirring sight as it approaches. Yes, it has an odor of greed and narcissism. There are personalities that can be polarizing and cancerous. And, yes, I wonder how much steroids and HGH's there are in those biceps.
But, it's worth the risk to step inside this "steam engine" and to let it take me to a place that is far removed from the cold realities of this time. This is a place that is warm and full of spring. There's laughter, cheering, promise, excitement, hope, and smiles as long as that mountain range.
Heading into the 2009 Major League Baseball season, I wonder how much devastation Josh Hamilton will impose on opposing pitchers in his second season with Texas. I'm curious to see if the Yankees will self-implode this year due to their monopoly-spending ways and in the wake of the A-Rod fiasco. I am also interested in seeing who will emerge as the dark-horse team this season; that one team that will come out of nowhere along the same path as the Devil Rays took last year. Will it be the Royals, Rangers, Marlins, or Reds? I wonder how many managers will become unemployed before the season is over. Will the economy keep the fans away from the ballparks?
It doesn't matter what the answers are to these questions. Baseball is back. It's rolling around the bend and heading our direction. If you would like to escape the icy conditions, then climb aboard and hang on. Before long, the winter will be over.
