I was originally going to have this post be about the sort-of return of Vin Scully, given that we haven’t heard him since last October, and today’s 12pm PT start on Prime Ticket represents his 2013 spring debut. Unfortunately, it’s a Monday afternoon, so most of you won’t be able to watch it anyway.
…and then I saw the pure glorious joy that is today’s lineup. Juan Uribe is in the lineup. Playing first base. And hitting cleanup.
I hardly need to remind you that it’s February 25th and that after two days of seeing mostly starters in the lineup, it’s likely that not a single member of today’s starting nine is in there on Opening Day (unless Carl Crawford isn’t ready to go) — and so there will be no complaining about a meaningless lineup in an even more meaningless game. But even still… look at it. Bask in it. Let it breathe a little. First baseman Juan Uribe, hitting cleanup, protected by designated hitter Nick Punto.
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Cubs
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Dodgers
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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2B
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Valbuena |
SS
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Gordon
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|
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DH
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Barney |
2B
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Schumaker
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|
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RF
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Schierholtz |
RF
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Hairston
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CF
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Hairston |
1B
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Uribe
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1B
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Nelson
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DH
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Punto
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|
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LF
|
McDonald |
CF
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Castellanos
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|
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C
|
Castillo |
C
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Castro
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|
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3B
|
Lake |
3B
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Amezaga
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|
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SS
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Gonzalez
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LF
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Gwynn
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Lord, do I love spring training sometimes.
That “lineup” will support starting pitcher Chad Billingsley, to be followed by Chris Capuano, Kevin Gregg, Matt Guerrier, Shawn Tolleson, Paco Rodriguez, so good luck with that, guys.
One other note, getting his first start of the spring today in left field is Tony Gwynn, who is of course in camp as a non-roster player despite still being under contract for 2013. Why was he so atrocious last year?
That was Tony Gwynn‘s dilemma in 2012. Have surgery, don’t play and let the team down. Or try to play hurt, and eventually let the team down anyway.
Gwynn, 30, played with an injury that was never discussed by him or the club. He believes he suffered a sports hernia lifting weights after the 2011 season, but he never had an MRI to diagnose it.
“I didn’t want to know,” he said Friday. “I wasn’t having surgery no matter what I had.”
He was hurting last Spring Training, hurting when Matt Kemp went down with that hamstring injury in early May and the relapse in late May. Needing to fill in for Kemp on almost an everyday basis for several months, Gwynn’s already injured body finally broke down.
Ah, wonderful. Unreported injuries never end poorly for player and team, ever.
