January and February are the worst months of the year for a baseball fan. For a couple of months after the World Series ends in late October, I’m content to focus on other sports. By January, I’m starting to miss the Grand Old Game. By February, when the only sport worth watching is college basketball, I’m going stir crazy. It doesn’t help that the weather is gray and cool. I need sunshine! Warmth! The crack of bat on ball! The smell of freshly mowed grass! I want to read stories about rookies and veterans, about the competitition for roster spots, about which teams are improved and which unimproved, about owners, agents, salaries, new parks, records, and divisional forecasts. I want to think baseball, talk baseball, listen to baseball, watch baseball, eat, drink, and sleep baseball. My adopted Texas Rangers begin spring training in six days. I may die of anticipation.