Awakenings

Boy, does baseball need an enema in the wake of this week's wholly unpleasant Canseco & Giambi show. Baseball's got a steroid problem? Who knew? Well, just about anyone with a functioning set of eyes, and even lots of people who can't see but are capable of perusing braille box scores. 1986-2003 will go down in history as a tainted era, but I really don't see a lot of value in throwing around unprovable allegations about the use of substances that weren't even banned by the game. So let's move on. Hell, we've got the World Champion Boston Red Sox to talk about. (Get used to that phrase. I suspect you'll see it again.)

Move on we will, because today the Washington Nationals open training camp in Viera, FL. Much more to come from my colleague on that topic. I won't give it away, but the Nats coming to town will have a fascinating impact on this space in the coming months.

Sox pitchers and catchers report on Thursday to Fort Myers. A lot of new faces, but a really solid core comes back from the team that won the World Series just 4 short months ago. I'm really excited to see how Bronson Arroyo continues to develop, a bit cautious about how well Schilling and Wade Miller recover, and intrigued about whether the Sox rest on their laurels or try to become legends. Most of me believes that the idiot factor will create another loose, positive clubhouse, and resulting success.