Day 1 At Spring Training: The Running Man
Follow The Fan: Facebook | Twitter
SURPRISE, AZ (105.3 THE FAN) - Hello … it's me.
I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to read, to go over everything. They say that time's supposed to heal ya, but I ain't done much healing … since Toronto.
Hello, can you hear me? I'm in Arizona dreaming about who we used to be.
And so it is baseball season once again!
I know, I know, it's actually been baseball season for a few weeks (since pitchers and catchers reported), but The K&C Masterpiece arrived to Spring Training on Saturday evening, so only now does it truly feel like baseball season.
And since we get super-cool access to the Texas Rangers, we wanted to provide y'all with as much behind-the-scenes access as possible too; that is, in addition to (shameless plus alert) what you hear every weekday from 7-11 p.m. Central on 105.3 The Fan … wait, did I just say Central? Of course that's the time zone I mean, not this silly Mountain/Pacific hybrid time zone we're in!
So, I'll be writing this blog everyday … probably … to give you further insight into our shenanigans.
We'll call this Day 1 … yes I know we arrived yesterday, so this is technically Day 2, but it was late and there was steak, plus this sweet house has all the cable channels – so, you know.
Most Valuable Person – Tom Wilhelmsen
We're calling this Most Valuable Person instead of player as it could be anybody that gets these award each day.
Wilhelmsen has a fascinating story (he was out of baseball for four years as he worked as a bartender) and he should make a fantastic addition to arguably the best bullpen in Major League Baseball. However, what made Wilhelmsen the MVP of the day (edging out Jake Diekman, who was also a great interview) were his amazing dance moves.
Yes, really.
While discussing a variety of topics, dancing came up and the 6-foot-6, bearded reliever said he loves to dance, but doesn't really have a favorite. When pressed by Colby Sapp, "So you never just break out the Running Man?" Wilhelmsen smiled and responded, "No, never … until now," at which point he started doing the famed decades-old dance.
Least Valuable Person – Cory Mageors
See, told ya it wouldn't always be a player!
Cory takes LVP status for Sunday as he was shooting a four- or five-minute video during Sunday's Rangers-Angels game … or at least we thought he was. We discussed a variety of topics and also got in a couple quick glimpses of the game during the video (though certainly not enough to warrant any type of copyright infringement investigation from MLB) but once Cory pressed stop he realized he hadn't actually recorded anything – thus wasting all of our time!
With that in mind, I don't feel so bad about them misspelling Cory's last name on his press credential.
Time machine to the past
The most amazing thing we saw today is something we noticed just a few steps into Surprise Stadium … a pay phone!
Two of them, in fact!!
And they both had phone books attached to them!!!
No, we hadn't been transported to a time before the Y2K panic, these actually existed. We were at the ballpark for the better part of five hours and, while I wasn't near them or looking at them intently much of the time, I did not see a single person use them. But, they are there for a reason … I guess.
That's all for now.
I hope you come back tomorrow or today or two days ago, depending on when you're reading this, and I'll try to continue to entertain and inform … or, at the very least, fill up plenty of space on your screen.
(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)