SARASOTA, Fla. -- It was drizzling on Itchy Xu's head, and a dark rain cloud accompanied the thunder over Ed Smith Stadium. Xu paid no attention to it. Instead, he smiled as he played catch with the teenage son of one of the Gulf Coast League Orioles' coaches. Next to him, shortstop Alexis Torres joked with him by chanting "Itchy, Itchy" over and over.
Gui Yuan "Itchy" Xu is just one of the guys playing rookie ball here. Like the 34 others on the roster, he watches Orioles games at Camden Yards on television, allowing himself to briefly escape reality and think of what it'd be like for him to take that field.