It never fails.
Every year when I return home from spring training, I get two questions.
No. 1: How much golf did you play?
No. 2: How come you’re not tan?
My answers: No. 1, believe it or not, I’m working, so there’s no time for golf. No. 2, believe it or not, I’m working; plus I’m Irish and we don’t tan very well.
And truth be told, for a beat writer, spring training often becomes a Ground Hog Day grind. But this is not a woe-is-me column. Spending six weeks in Arizona, watching, talking and writing baseball is a pretty good gig.