Now that we’ve passed the midpoint of the spring training season, in all
camps there is a hole in the calendar. This hole is a rare jewel in the world
of major league baseball: a day off from the grind in the land of fun and sun
(Arizona or Florida). And a day off could be just what the doctor ordered.

Players know the truth of the adage that the only time you are healthy over

It’s here again. Position players report to spring training this week (pitchers and catchers started workouts last week, in keeping with tradition), and as always there is a high level of excitement and anticipation among the players. Maybe this is the year they can bring home a World Series title — or make the team for the first time.

I remember the veteran pitcher Mike Jackson telling me that “by the time you finish with this game, you will have worn a lot of hats.” I heard him, but it didn’t really sink in because I hadn’t yet been in that annual free agency vortex that can force you to play for a different team every year. At the time, I had been traded once and was wearing only my second major league hat, which I was confident would be the last of my career.

Not to be.

Last week, after years of public curiosity about what was hidden behind Mark McGwire´s testimony to Congress in 2005, McGwire admitted he indeed had a secret. He conceded that his career was marked by intermittent steroid use, even during 1998, the year he broke Roger Maris´ single-season home run record. His historic run was unreal . . . literally.

No one would have accused me of having multiple ladies on each arm when I was in high school or college. I was a diligent student, kind of nerdy, the son of a teacher, and as interested in baseball and computers as I was in girls. Still, I was told I had potential in the social department, if I applied myself.

But something magical happened before I had to do much work. I signed a professional baseball contract as a junior in college and went away to my first spring training as a member of the Chicago Cubs organization.

It is true: I am a New Jersey Nets fan, and it goes back a long time. Years ago, Buck Williams and his style of play converted me from my stubborn loyalty to the Denver Nuggets and their star player, Alex English. Then came Derrick Coleman ("DC"), Kenny Anderson and Drazen Petrovic ("Petro!"). Best of all, my Biddy basketball coach was a Net Butch Beard.

The baseball season is over, and now another game begins the game of free agency. And this is where the rubber meets the road.

There are monkeys on your back and then there are gorillas, and when things are particularly bad, you have an entire zoo. But once in a while, something happens that sends them all back to their natural habitat.

If you were offended by Jimmy Rollins’s prediction to Jay Leno the other night about the Phillies’ chances in the World Series (“Of course we’re gonna win. If we’re nice, we’ll let it go six, but I’m thinking five, close it out at home”) — don’t be.

For years, I have waited for this moment: the Phillies and the Yankees going toe-to-toe in the World Series. Of course, I would have loved to actually still be wearing the uniform, but this is the next best thing.