There's a day coming up this month - very soon, actually - that I know a lot of people are excited about. We've been planning for it weeks in advance. We've picked out our outfits, we've planned dates and parties and get-togethers. The smell of spring is in the air, there are red and white colors everywhere, and I'm fantasizing about freshly cut grass.
No, I'm not talking about Valentine's Day, as you may have guessed.
I'm talking about the Opening Day of Spring Training. Sure football is fun, the Super Bowl happened! Yay! Look at all the snacks I had! But baseball is what holds this little girl's heart.
I know that I (and many others, besides,) have basically been counting down since the Astros won Game 7 of the World Series (and got their first title in franchise history in the process, yay!) and the season opener begins with an exhibition game on February 21st, with the Diamondbacks hosting Arizona State Uni in Scottsdale, AZ.
Soon after that, on February 23rd, we begin the Grapefruit and Cactus league play (or, in other terms: the teams whose spring training is based out of Florida and Arizona, respectively.) Grapefruit League includes the New York Yankees located at George M. Steinbrunner field - that's not too far from Tampa; the Philadelphia Phillies (in Spectrum Field, Clearwater); and my personal favorite, the Boston Red Sox at Jetblue Park at Fenway South, located in Fort Meyers.
Cactus league includes the Chicago Cubs (Sloan Park, Mesa), the San Francisco Giants (Scottsdale Stadium, Scottsdale), and the Los Angeles Angels, in Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe.
And on February 24th, all 30 teams of the MLB will officially be in action! You can catch this girl obsessively rocking her meager Red Sox gear (but trying SO hard to save up for a Benitendi jersey!), and becoming more and more grossed out by her boyfriend, who is a hardcore Yankees fan (BLEGH!)
She is also going to be cheering for the Phillies at the Yankees V Phillies game on February 26th - she's going because she was promised nachos. (And also, even though she hates the Yanks, it's hard not to be in awe of the pure muscle that is Aaron Judge, so she's going exclusively to look at him.)
And after that? Well, at least there's one team my BF and I will always root for. Spot us at as many USF baseball games as we can possibly manage- we'll be the ones with a mound of stadium food beside us.
Because really, I wrote this article to talk about Opening Day, but here's a little secret:
I am most, MOST excited about the stadium food. Gimmie a hotdog and a helmet full of nachos, please.
And a Coke on the side while you're at it.
Here is a photo of my legs, my boyfriend's glove, and my ticket to my first spring training game last year where I got to see the Red Sox for the VERY FIRST TIME. I took many photos of them, all of which are saved on my Snapchat, and none of which are very good, otherwise they'd be in this article.
Actually, just kidding. Here is David Price's butt.
Have a nice day.