February 17.  It’s around this time each year that something amazing happens.  Pitchers and Catchers report to Spring Training in Arizona and Florida.  Specifically, Cardinal Pitchers and Cardinal Catchers head to Jupiter, Florida to begin preparation for Spring Training Games and for the Regular season.

This season is a bit different than normal.  First of all, on opening day, I’m going to be a father.  For some reason, being a father and a baseball fan has some sort of mystique about it.  I watch football, but I’m not that interested in it.  I enjoy basketball, but I can do with or without it.  I love baseball.  I love the strategy.  I love the fact that some people find it boring, because it means you see something special in it that others can’t (similar to Robert Altman films).  I love the crack of the bat.  I love the fact that the beginning of Spring Training or the Season means the weather is warming up and summer is coming.  There’s just so much to love about it.

I can remember being young and watching a Cardinals game with my Dad and thinking about how boring it was.  I wonder if Junior will think the same.

I remember my Dad coming home after the Mark McGwire trade and impersonating his batting stance to tell me the Cardinal got him in a trade.

I remember sitting in the kitchen watching the opening day of the baseball season when McGwire began his record breaking pace.  (The memory is slightly tainted now.)

I remember Gary Gaetti’s Grand Slam in Game 3 of the 1996 NLCS and thinking there’s no way the Cardinals can lose now!

I remember game 5, 6, and 7 of the 1996 NLCS when the Atlanta Braves outscored the Cardinal 32-1 and being absolutely heartbroken.

I remember vividly the no-hitters of Bud Smith and Jose Jiminez. 

I remember Fernado Tatis hitting two grand slams in one inning. 

The World Series win of 2006.

Joe McEwing.

The heart break of other post-season losses.

Most importantly though, I loved and still love hearing my dad tell stories about baseball players that I never got to see.  Players in the 1960s and 1970s when he was a kid and a young adult.  I feel as though there’s something special about being able to tell my son those same stories.  To share with him the memories above (and a whole bunch of other ones) seems almost magical.

And while he’ll have no idea what’s happening, I’m excited that he’ll be here for Opening Day 2010… April 5 versus Cincinnati on ESPN.