"February 14:... pitchers and catchers may report to Spring Training."

Sitting in the depths of winter with the thermometer threatening to dip to zero or even below…again, faced with the specter of just one more football game—Super Bowl XLIII (which will be over-hyped and promoted) and the fact that my alma mater’s men’s basketball team sucks and the women are mildly disappointing (therefore, March Madness will seem only a little silly to me), it is comforting to come across this piece of information:

FEB 14, 2009
• First date injured players, pitchers and catchers may report to Spring Training.

All other players may report on February 17 and must report by February 22.

Just get me through the next four weeks!

(Why four weeks? The first week is just to get loosened up and see who's in shape and who is not. Then, about a week after all the players report, they start playing baseball! So figure the first spring training game will be around the 24th of February. The Mets' first game is on the 25th. )