Spring Training is simultaneously awesome and awful. We get baseball back and, with that, the chance to obsess over every detail that likely means nothing but will be Tweeted 1 billion times because there’s a chance it’s relevant. The being starved for baseball for 100+ days might have something to do with it too.
But while all y’all were looking at Bobby Witt Jr. being awesome, you may have missed some other great stuff. Some of it happened on the field, but these are all interesting because they aren’t about the outcome of the game itself. Some are quirky, some are amazing, and some are just downright entertaining. They are all worth your time.
Bartolo Colon Goes Yard… In a Yard
On February 22 a video emerged of Bartolo Colon blasting a Johnson in what I imagine is his backyard, or at least somebody’s backyard (not as formal as an MLB stadium, but nicer than some minor league facilities for sure). I mean, we all know about this one from 2016: Colon launches a blast for first career homer. But did you know about this one:
Bartolo Colon’s mammoth home run!
Big Sexy! ??? pic.twitter.com/W4LFExl3dN
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) February 23, 2021
This is, undoubtedly, a good omen and boy do we need good things from the 2021 baseball season. We have just surpassed the year anniversary of an abrupt and cataclysmic shift in our ways of life and anything that can give us a dose of normalcy will go a long way. So maybe Bartolo dropping bombs is more novel than normal, but if it is a sign of good things to come from baseball this year, that gives me a lot of hope.
Francisco Lindor Persists
Maybe he is giddy because he is out of the sinking ship that is the Cleveland Indians. Perhaps he is jazzed because the Mets—For the first time in forever—will be a very good team that shouldn’t have behind-the-scenes issues implode their chances of success. Maybe Francisco Lindor is just a jokester or perhaps he has history with him, but he sure was tenacious about trying to get Eddy Alvarez out at second base after a pickoff attempt:
.@Lindor12BC is persistent. ? pic.twitter.com/iZmBae9VFq
— Cut4 (@Cut4) March 23, 2021
He even tried to maintain the charade after tossing the ball back to the mound. We can only hope for more of these hi-jinks as the season opens and unfolds, and that the Mets remain relevant and fun because if there is a fanbase that deserves a fun season, it’s the Mets’.
Water (Bottle) Gate
Foul balls are dangerous and that’s no joke. Luckily, this foul ball saga involves the destruction of an inanimate object so we can enjoy guilt-free. This isn’t a video as much as a saga that unfolds in four scenes between Adam Duvall and Steven Souza, Jr.:
Adam Duvall hits a foul ball.
The foul ball breaks Steven Souza Jr.’s water bottle
Souza then sends Duvall a note asking for a new bottle. ? pic.twitter.com/iAr30lB8Ff— Cut4 (@Cut4) March 15, 2021
This looks like a light-hearted exchange done all in good fun, but what if Souza is actually serious? What if he’s ripping ticked and fully expects payment and recompense for his broken Nalgene, BPA-free water containment vessel? We will need to keep our collective eye on this one as the season plays out.
BONUS: Lindor as cameraman:
Twenty-two Pitch Plate Appearance
On March 15, The New York Mets‘ Luis Guillorme stepped to the plate against the Cardinals’ Jordan Hicks for a casual spring training at-bat. The average at-bat lasts less than two minutes. This one went on for eleven hecking minutes. You read that right: ELEVEN. This epic battle between pitcher and batter, a struggle between offense and defense, a confrontation for supremacy over the batter’s box ended in… a walk.
Sure that might be a touch anti-climactic, but holy crud that’s an EVENT! Here’s the whole dramatic sequence via YouTube:
A Same-Day Two-Way
We all know that Shohei Ohtani is a two-way player, but he usually does them on different days. Yes, it was only a Spring Training exhibition of his talents, but how cool is it that he started the game as a pitcher and a hitter; he was in the lineup and on the mound in the same contest. I find this fascinating.
On top of that, he was fire with his fastball:
Here was the 101 mph pitch (and grunt) https://t.co/CM8E9HBuby pic.twitter.com/TrNaAK0Hy9
— Jack Harris (@Jack_A_Harris) March 21, 2021
And he handled himself with the bat just fine too:
Shohei Ohtani is now 13-for-21 (.619 BA) this spring pic.twitter.com/mgyhjute1o
— Jack Harris (@Jack_A_Harris) March 21, 2021
Hitting 100+ MPH and bringing his average up to .619 in one game? Priceless.
Kenta Get a What-What?
Aside from being a free team name for you (you’re WELCOME), the Twins pitcher Maeda stir with his warm-up routine. Okay, a stir is a bit extreme, but it was important to my pun and, you know, priorities. Check this out (and notice in the reply, this is nothing new):
He did this before every single game when he played for the Hiroshima Carp. pic.twitter.com/SNx7gTKMjI
— Houston Fan ⚾??? (@HouFan77) March 10, 2021
I hope that you have thoroughly enjoyed Spring Training, minus the devastating injuries that have already screwed your teams before the first pitches of the season have even been tossed (thanks, Eloy Jimenez…), and that this small walk down memory lane has you even more amped for the regular season to start.
I leave you with this:
https://gfycat.com/unhealthyhonoredcanvasback
Hit me up and let me know what your favorite Spring Training moment was, the goofier the better!
Photos by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire, Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire, Ganapathy Kumar/Unsplash, David Hahn/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter)