Spring's sprung for MLB

Mike Piazza stepped off the plane and shuddered. Like a lot of places, New York was in a deep freeze.

"Man, my ears almost fell off," the Mets star said. "I'll be glad when we get going."

He's not the only one. Because with much of the country covered by snow and ice this winter, it just takes a few words to warm up baseball everywhere: It's time for pitchers and catchers to report to spring training.

The Seattle Mariners will be the first team to open camp. They get going today, and there's a reason for the quick start -- Ichiro Suzuki, Freddy Garcia and the Mariners will play the major league opener real early, on March 25 in Tokyo against Oakland.

Within a week, every team will break out the bats, the balls and the big hopes. From Florida to Arizona, from Vero Beach to Scottsdale, optimism will mix with the sun and sand.

"We are going to go all the way and win it all," boasted San Francisco's Felipe Alou, one of 10 new managers this season.

Dusty Baker, Buck Showalter, and Lou Piniella also will be in different dugouts, while Detroit's Alan Trammell will try managing for the first time.

All over, teams are excited, particularly with so many top players having moved. Jim Thome, Tom Glavine, Mike Hampton, Ivan Rodriguez and Jeff Kent switched sides, and the New York Yankees brought two newcomers to the big leagues -- Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui and Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras.

Plus, camps will be full of fresh young faces, guys who sooner or later may become household names. Could the new star be 19-year-old Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, Cleveland first baseman Travis Hafner, or Phillies center fielder Marlon Byrd?

So why not be enthused, especially after what the Anaheim Angels accomplished last year?

Coming off a season in which they finished 41 games behind in the AL West, Mike Scioscia's bunch bounced back to beat Barry Bonds and the Giants in the World Series.

A rookie who began the season in Triple-A, John Lackey, started Game 7 and shut down San Francisco. And a 20-year-old who opened the year in Double-A -- Francisco Rodriguez -- became a postseason sensation.

Yet even the fabulous K-Rod, now about to receive a championship ring at 21, sounded like a seasoned veteran as the Angels prepared to open camp on Valentine's Day in Tempe, Ariz.

"Everything starts with zero," the reliever said. "The most difficult thing in baseball is to be consistent. You can have one good year but if the next is bad, you're defrauding everyone."

And remember how the spring started for the Angels last year? They got in an exhibition fight with San Diego, and Troy Glaus and Scott Spiezio were suspended. By October, Glaus was the World Series MVP, and Spiezio was a postseason star.

There's certain to be news this spring, too. The Veterans Committee will announce its voting for the Hall of Fame on Feb. 26, with Gil Hodges and Marvin Miller among the candidates. And there could be developments with Pete Rose's bid to win reinstatement from commissioner Bud Selig.

On the field, if there's ever a time to think big, it's now.

So maybe that's why Milwaukee ace Ben Sheets was looking ahead after a season in which the Brewers lost 106 games.

"To be honest with you, I don't even think about last year. It all goes away -- good year, bad year, doesn't matter. Just like a good game, bad game, you can't bring it with you," he said. "Clean slate."

There are shifts from the Grapefruit League to the Cactus League. Starting this month, Texas and Kansas City will share a training complex in Surprise, Ariz., a northwest suburb of Phoenix.

The Rangers left Port Charlotte, Fla., where alligators used to sun themselves in ponds around the ballpark and former owner George W. Bush would stroll the grounds. The Royals exited their old Boardwalk and Baseball site in central Florida, which opened with a lot of fanfare in 1988 but quickly lost popularity.

This also will be the last time Philadelphia trains at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater, Fla. Nearly a half-century old, the ballpark is one of the coziest anywhere, with perfect touches -- where else can fans find a warning track made of crushed seashells?

Meanwhile, a few familiar faces are still looking for jobs. Reggie Sanders and Kenny Lofton, who started for the Giants in Game 7 of the World Series, remain free agents, as do Rickey Henderson, Kenny Rogers, Chuck Finley and B.J. Surhoff. David Justice and Andy Benes, meanwhile, say they're done.

"Fourteen seasons is long enough," said Justice, whose teams made the playoffs in his last 11 years. "I have a diminished desire to play."

For everyone else, the exhibition games begin Feb. 27. That's when Baker and his Chicago Cubs will take on his old team, the Giants. The same day, Cincinnati will visit the Yankees in Tampa, Fla.

The Yankees already are gearing up for Matsui's arrival, and there's a plan to sell sushi at the concession stands at Legends Field.

Derek Jeter, David Wells and manager Joe Torre also are prepared for owner George Steinbrenner's bluster. The Boss was not happy that his guys were whacked out of the playoffs by Anaheim in the opening round, and he let them hear it.

"We know what it's like to win, and we also know what it's like to lose. You don't want to lose anymore," Jeter said.

Besides, the Yankees don't need to look far. Beyond the center- field fence at Legends Field, there's a message board that reads: Congratulations, Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs' Raymond James Stadium is across the street from the Yankees' complex.

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