Not yet spring. In Clearwater, however, spring training is about to go into full swing as everyone reports in and the news starts to be about what's now happening. For starts, pitching coach Rich Dubee said yesterday that Kyle Kendrick still has the inside track to the 5th spot in the rotation. Go for it, Kyle!On Presidents' Day, the morning's Inky had a presidential story. When Carlos Ruiz returned to his native Panama last November, he was invited to meet Panamanian president, Martin Torrijos. A baseball fan, the president had called Chooch's mother after the World Series. At the meeting, Ruiz gave the president the jersey that he wore in the clinching game of the World Series. A sweet story. When Ruiz decided not to take part in the WBC this March, the president made another call, this time to persuade Carlos to represent his country. No way that he could say no.
The Mets are trying for a three-peat with Jimmy Rollins' "We are the team to beat." Imitation here is in tatters. In New York, of course, where all the talk is of the Yankees and Alex Rodriguez, the Mets are getting only the crumbs. One funny story from Mets' camp down in Port Lucie. A sign over the entrance to the field proclaims that through these doors pass the greatest baseball players in the world. Quipped someone this weekend, "Are we in Clearwater?"
I look forward to seeing Raul Ibanez in a Phillies' uni.
