Man, it sure is February. The frozen bloody North we call home sure is frozen, and we're all getting a little squirrely. That's okay, though, because Spring Training has sprung and the end of it all is in sight. We've got a whole slew of young guys who will be fun as heck to cheer on this summer whether or not we contend. And so, I present to you a short read to make your day a little better.

This article at USS Mariner (which is an excellent blog that I highly recommend to everyone here, despite their misguided fanatacism for the poorly run M's) reminded me, more than anything yet this almost-spring, why I love the game so. It's a great read, and it sure as heck brightened my day even though I've never heard of Dave Niehaus.

Quote: "I learned baseball from him. I learned that Jim Presley was terrible, Harold Reynolds was fast, that Alvin Davis was Mr. Mariner, and that the team didn't have any pitching. They never had any pitching. Through Bill Swift, he taught me what a sinkerball was. Through Scott Bradley, he taught me that catchers could be left-handed. Through John Moses, he taught me that you can give anyone a nickname by just shortening their last name. And through Ivan Calderon, he taught me that hispanic players could have Russian first names."

As a side note, this is the kind of thing that makes the baseball Hall of Fame the kind of institution that other sports can only dream of. Nevermind the yearly arguments about the BBWAA's voting -- the century-plus of history enshrined in Cooperstown from announcers to bloody socks makes me smile every time I think about it.