I have been invited to Spring Training

I think it's called a "non-roster invitee". This, from an official press release (email), from the Boston Red Sox:

Hello Boston Red Sox.com subscriber, you are officially invited to Spring Training with the Boston Red Sox! Play in the sun with the team and experience what spring training is really like down in Ft. Myers. For a nominal fee of (Let's call it a half year of mortgage payments) you can be at the games just like the pros.

We hope to see you down in sunny Florida when the Red Sox take the field for the first time in 2010.

See, told you. It's always been a dream of mine to play for the Boston Red Sox, but I thought they were supposed to pay me, not the other way around. I think this engineering gig has kind of run it's course. It's time for something new.

I've taken the liberty of creating my own baseball card. It's a 1987 Topps in case you didn't recognize the sweet wooden border.

A few countdowns to keep you occupied

Ok people, I think we've seen all there is for moves this off-season. Not that it was slow by any means, but it didn't exactly produce "the" big bat like we thought was coming down the pipe. We have to remember though that preventing runs is just as important as scoring them... although it's far less exciting. Shame, because that's what we're looking for: Excitement. We want a team that is fun to get drunk and yell for, not get drunk and yell at. There's a big difference.

To keep everyone busy though here are some dates that we can look forward to:

• Friday, February 12th - Truck day. That's the first biggie and it's less than a month away. Does any other city in the country really gather around their home park to watch the trucks head south? For some reason I doubt it.
• Thursday, February 18th - Pitchers and catchers report. Will Josh Beckett show up looking like a Biggest Loser contestant again? Will both Dice-K's legs be working properly? And most importantly, what are the chances we will be able to catch a glimpse of Heidi in a bikini down in Ft. Myers? I'd like to say: No, yes and yes if there's a God.
• March 1st - The college games. While there really isn't any excitement for a lot of fans on this one it has to be pretty awesome to be a BC or NEU player that will probably never make it to the majors get a shot to hit off the likes of Beckett, Lester, etc.
• Sunday, April 4th - Opening Day. And so it begins, and against The Yankees of all teams. By my rough count it's about 80 days away still. Hmm, why does that sound so much longer than just saying 2 1/2 months.

Yup, so there it is. Damn, I'm going to need a lot of "Always Sunny" re-runs to make it through February.