[luckymann]

As planned, the squad reconvenes for the first time on January 15th. We take it very easy for the rest of January, just meeting three times a week for a few hours. This is aimed at letting the players get to know one another at their own pace. I want the camaraderie and cohesion within the group to be organic, not manufactured. I also don’t want them to be sick of the sight of one another halfway through the season. So we just shag some flies, play a few squad games, nothing too serious or strenuous.

Mid-Feb we start amping things up a bit, progressively increasing the intensity, frequency and duration of the sessions. I feel confident we have just about the best bunch of players we could have assembled under the circumstances particular to our club. They are understandably rusty at first, and still unfamiliar to each other in varying degrees. So we make sure those who interact most closely on the field get plenty of time with one another off of it. Outfielders together; infielders; batteries. With every week I see the unit meshing. It’s all looking good.

By night myself and the management team work on game plans, both individual and collective. Lineups and depth charts. Situational roles. Defensive alignments. No matter how high-quality they are, a pile of bricks doesn’t become a house without the blueprints, without the grout, without the skilled workers to make it so. That’s how I see the time between now and Opening Day – as the time when we build our house, with us as the architects and artisans.

We spend March doing our own version of Spring Training. Full squad games, no bars held. Time to get the competitive juices flowing. Time to get the old instinct back into action. For some, they’ve never gone away. For others, they take their time to reappear. Human nature, the most inexact of sciences.
In the shadows of Opening Day, Butte comes calling to canvass about the availability of Jeff Peoples. His availability, I tell them, is subject to what’s being offered in return. They float a really encouraging relief prospect. I don’t say no. In perusing their team sheet I see Jason Geist, a flamethrower with a cutter that makes hitters’ legs concertina from under them but some serious wildness and gopher ball issues that grabs my fancy. I try to fold him into the deal, as is. They counter by asking for Seth McKenzie, a guy so far down our depth charts that a volcanic eruption catching us unawares is his best chance of seeing action this season. We make the trade. It sets us back $12k of the $40 extra the boss gave us earlier in the month, but improves our bullpen no end.

The night before OD the full squad gathers at Hanauma Bay for a traditional luau meal. By this time everyone seems on good terms with each other. The constant close contact over the course of a season means this will not always be the case. But if you go into the beginning of a season without this general feeling of goodwill toward all the other members of the group, then you are greatly behind the eightball. I give a quick speech thanking the players for their efforts since the start of the year, and telling them that as long as they give their best then I’ll be proud of them regardless of results. The mood is jovial, and the breeze makes it so you can feel the salt on your skin, taste in with every swallow. At this very moment I can see why people never want to leave this place. But you know I’ll be whinging like crazy about the heat in a month or so.

Of course, results are what matter. For them and for me. So we are all eager on the morning of our first game to see what BNN is predicting for the season. It is with mixed emotions I read they have picked us to win the division handily by 18 games with a 72-33 record. So much for flying under the radar. I’m not being cagey when I tell you I disagree wholeheartedly with them. Sure, if things go our way we’ll be among the first division down the stretch. But I think we are still another year away from being a true contender. I believe Kahului are the team to beat this year. They have a brute of a lineup, with their infield particularly strong. It is their pitching that is a worry, but a couple trades could quickly fix that should the need arise. Same go with the other sides, and there’s the Draft to consider as well.

Enough with the cogitation and speculation, let’s go play some ball.