Poll

What best describes your spring training experience?
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Leading Off: Super Bowl's over; it's time for baseball

Published: Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 1C
Last Modified: Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 - 9:18 am

So that was fun, Eli Manning and the Giants knocking off the Patriots – and the hoodie – in Super Bowl XLVI.

But enough already with football.

Some trees are blooming, and bulbs are starting to pop up, meaning spring is in the air.

In 11 days, the Giants and A's start spring training when pitchers and catchers report. Position players report Feb. 23 for the Giants and Feb. 24 for the A's.

The A's begin play first, against the Mariners on March 2 in Phoenix. The Giants host the Diamondbacks on March 3 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

For fans, spring training means lots of sun, warm weather – and hope. It's when all fans think their team has a shot at the World Series, no matter how poorly it did the previous season or how lousy its offseason moves were.

For the Giants, there is hope that Buster Posey, Freddy Sanchez and Aubrey Huff will return to their 2010 form. Plus the Giants added a solid No. 3 hitter in Melky Cabrera and a leadoff man in Angel Pagan. Giants fans should be excited.

Across the bay, fans must be scratching their heads after the A's traded starters Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez and All-Star closer Andrew Bailey, among others. It looks like another rebuilding year.

What to watch

NBA, Kings at Minnesota, 5 p.m., CSNCA: With no Love tonight, there will be more rebounds for DeMarcus Cousins.

What to do

Pebble Beach Charity Shoot-Out, 1:30 p.m., Pebble Beach Golf Links: See the Giants (Mike Krukow, Dave Flemming, Matt Cain, Will Clark) vs. the 49ers (Harris Barton, Dwight Clark, Brent Jones, Jerry Rice).

Today's poll

What best describes your spring training experience?

• I go every year.

• I've been at least once.

• I sure wish I could go.

• I don't care about it.

Vote above or leave your comments in the comments field; or go to www.sacbee.com/sports

Weekend results

Whom would you rather have as your starting quarterback?

• Peyton Manning: 76%

• Alex Smith: 24%

Total votes: 1,601

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Read more articles by Tom Couzens



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