Pinch Me if I'm Dreaming! Pitchers and Catchers?

Hey guys, Drew back here. It's been a long winter. Real long. My school district has suffered 7 snow days, and currently seeing a patch of grass up here in New York is almost as rare as finding a Colorado Rockies fan! So, here I am, after a long day of sitting home in pajamas doing absolutely nothing, holding my hot chocolate, as I flip on to the MLB Network. A commercial comes on. All you see is the hot sun, wonderful weather, and BASEBALL! That warms me up so much on the inside, so much that not even hot chocolate can compare to.

I have never in my life been more excited for Spring Training. The crack of the bat sounds so much nicer to me than the blow of a gun and runners taking off. That pop in the glove of a fielder sounds soothing compared to the frantic screaming and panic that goes on while you are running full speed to win the race! Baseball seems right for me, and I've never wanted it as bad as I do right now. I think one reason is because first of all, I'm pretty sick of track, as you can tell, and second, I can hardly see above the huge mounds of snow right now and it's really beginning to be a menace!

But the one thing that is pumping me up for Spring Training most, is my through the mail autograph requests! I have been chomping at the bit lately, writing letter after letter, making custom after custom, in hopes that I receive at least 40-50% of them back. I have plans on about 30 letters going out, call me crazy, but about 15 have already made their way to Florida and Arizona! Some of the players on my list are going to be much harder to obtain then others, but I'm confident that after all the hard work I've put in that I'm going to be rewarded with some nice new signatures for my collection.

Among my list are Rays ace David Price; Yankees centerfielder Curtis Granderson; Rays outfielder Johnny Damon; Rangers closer Neftali Feliz; Padres closer Heath Bell; Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa; new Dodgers manager Don Mattingly; and many, many more!

The reason that I prefer Spring Training over any other time of the season to send out autographs is that from most players point of view, it's their least busiest time of the year. Sure, they're working their butts off in preparation for the big year, but they have a lot of free time on their hands to read some letters, especially the younger guys. A lot of players that you see signing in Spring Training do not sign at other points of the year (see Clayton Kershaw, CC Sabathia). This is the one time of year where you could send to almost anyone (minus the Jeter's and Pujols') and you would have a much better opportunity at a success.

So, I highly recommend Spring Training if you're going to test your luck and write a few letters! Last year I didn't overdo it too much, but did receive all the letters I wrote, from Pat Neshek, Ian Snell, Andrew Bailey, CC Sabathia (yes, I got them 2 weeks ago) and even Buster Posey (don't get your hopes up this year)! A good time to send your letters are within the next two weeks in my opinion, because if you send too late you may not be lucky enough. If you want to save your stamps, and you're not sure if the player typically signs, put his name in the comments and I'll let you know what I've seen from him in the past.

Anyway, pitchers and catchers in 4 days! I'm almost as excited as a teenage girl going to a Justin Bieber concert (oh jeez, never thought I'd mention his disgraceful name on this blog).

Lets Go Yankees! See Ya!

P.S. I posted a log on my sidebar of the players officially sent out to, what date, and I'll post if there is any success in the future!