We’ve been patient, at least as patient as we can. But it is really difficult. I mean, the last time we saw the Minnesota Twins play was September 28, 2011. What a game it was. Twins starter Carl Pavano threw nine shutout innings against the Kansas City Royals. Bruce Chen tossed eight scoreless at the Twins. Thankfully, the Royals brought reliever Blake Wood into the game, and you all remember, Trevor Plouffe lined a single that scored Denard Span and gave the Twins the win. That win came 143 days ago! 143 days! That’s almost five full months. Simply… that’s far too long to go without watching or favorite team. Since that day, the Twins lost several players including Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Joe Nathan, Jason Repko, Matt Tolbert and more. Jim Pohlad also decided to relieve Bill Smith of his GM duties and replace him with an old friend, Terry Ryan. Ryan has added free agents Josh Willingham, Jamey Carroll, Ryan Doumit, Jason Marquis, Joel Zumaya and a boat load of strong-armed minor league free agents. We have celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Many of us had the opportunity to start getting prepped for the 2012 season by attending a Twins Caravan. Then many of us met at the Metrodome for Twins Fest. The last three weeks have been difficult. We’re all ready for things to get started.

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And this morning, we can finally say the four words that mean so much to baseball fans. Sure, many in the world want to talk about the Three Little Words that get uttered on Valentine’s Day. But for a baseball fan, no four words are more exciting than “Pitchers and Catchers Report.” This morning in Ft. Myers, Twins pitchers and catchers will report to Hammond Stadium in Ft. Myers. They won’t hold a full workout. That will happen on Sunday. Last night, Twins Director of Communications tweeted that “33 pitchers and catchers are ready to report in Ft. Myers tomorrow. (This) includes 11 non-roster pitchers and 5 non-roster catchers.” The other 25 position players will report in just a few days. Spring Training games begin in less than two weeks.

Spring Training is about a fresh start. The sounds of baseball. The pop of catchers’ mitts. The encouraging shouts of coaches. The opportunity for a new beginning. Hope. Joy. Optimism. All great words. All appropriate today because of those four special words that baseball fans wait for all winter: Pitchers and Catchers Report!

Any thoughts? Please feel free to e-mail me or use the Comments Section!