March 8, 2001

Well fresh from a six-month hiatus from baseball and writing, I submit my first article of the year just a few days into spring training. This winter I spent the majority of time working out, throwing with Mike Bacsik (my pitching coach) and working on my ranch. I have all kinds of stories about construction, goats that only walk counter-clockwise, contractors, five alarm fires set on purpose and chainsaw mishaps but I am going to have to work those in through some ridiculous analogy later on in the season. I could compare the art inherent in pitching and chainsawing brush, but I have to get back into midseason BS form to really pull that one off.

Anyway, after all of this by the time March 4 rolled around I was ready to be back. After driving 13 hours from Dallas to Tucson and getting a good night's sleep, I reported to the clubhouse for the first day of spring training. I am always surprised at who is happy about seeing me again and not that surprised when people I know don't remember my name. Players are funny, you never know what you are going to get. During these first days of Diamondbacks spring training, I couldn't help but think that I wasn't much different than a cow being herded into a corral. After checking in, the waiting and sorting begins.

The first morning of spring training all of the pitchers and catchers reported to the conference room for a meeting. The layout of day to day activities began with pitchers being assigned to two groups and then assigned into numbers within the groups. Now we would all be told what to do based on our number and our group. Tommy Jones then laid out the "numbers" game that we would all be playing for the rest of our spring training and the rest of our career. There were 165 players in camp and only spots for 135. Thirty guys would be leaving in the next month, off to another part of their lives.

After that reality check, our workouts and physicals began. The first day of spring, we spent over four hours undergoing rigorous physical testing from everything to our eyes and teeth, to our backs, hips and heart. I have never seen such a rigorous testing before. After staying until almost 11 p.m. the first night to finish, we were told to report to the clubhouse early the next morning for blood and urine work.

The reaction to these tests is usually pretty funny. The blood work is all right for most people, although some guys can't look at the needles. Ben Bonilla had a rough time after the nurse spilled his vial of blood on his paperwork. The drug test is always a source of nervous tension for guys because there is a lot riding on that little cup. Just imagine how difficult it could be with someone watching for foul play and guys waiting in line behind you and in a hurry. I performed like a champ however and have now gone almost four years straight with a perfect performance record.

The workouts started Tuesday and I am pretty happy with everything for the first time in my career. Our program really will keep us healthy and playing at a higher level. We are done with workouts at around noon everyday and have the rest of the day to ourselves. The schedule will change once the position players report and we start playing games.

Every day will be something new. Since this is my first spring, I will be going into every part with no idea what will happen next. Perhaps one of the most difficult things every minor leaguer goes through is dealing with this inactivity and insecurity of what will happen next. Being away from the people you love and enjoy spending time with is difficult for everyone and everyone deals with differently. This year I will be writing about a life that splits your year into two parts with two different homes, a life of no security, no perks, lots of hard work and the outside chance of making a dream come true.

You can contact Will Rosellini at Rumi54@aol.com.