JON ADAMS/NEWSMAKERS Red Sox spring training is so relaxed, Pedro Martinez let a friend take the mound.

From the Sidelines

Where the stars are real people

One day last month, as I was doing laundry, someone came into the room and asked me the inevitable: "What are you doing for spring break?" When I said that I was going to spring training, my laundry friend asked, "Oh, really, what sport do you play?" When I told her that I was going to watch Boston Red Sox spring training, she seemed puzzled. Then she asked me if the games counted. When I told her that they did not, she was incredulous that I would pay to watch baseball teams play games that don't even count.

Even friends of mine who are huge baseball fans have told me that they find spring training games on television boring. I would probably agree with them—one really needs to go to spring training to understand why it is such a great experience.

Only at spring training, for example, can you get a good look at the young players who are expected to make an impact at the major league level—but not for a few years. Case in point: although I had read about Red Sox prospect Donnie Sadler's speed, watching him blaze from first to third in person was truly exciting. Similarly, hearing commentators rave about young Red Sox right-hander Juan Peña's changeup in the Boston Globe was not the same as watching him fool hitters right in front of my eyes.

Not only can you see young players who will one day be stars, you also get the chance to meet some major league veterans who are nicer than you might think. At one game I had seats that were near the right field foul line. In the third inning, Cincinnati Reds utility man Kimera Bartee walked by, and I shouted, "Hi, Kimera." In a major league park, he probably would have kept walking and ignored me. But at City of Palms Park, he looked me in the eye, and said, "What up, man?" Shortly after, Reds losing pitcher Ron Villone walked by me and agreed to sign my t-shirt. Only at spring training would a pitcher who just allowed five runs in three innings autograph with a smile.

Furthermore, the players remain accessible well after the games are over, and they appear to genuinely enjoy the company of their fans. I attended a dinner in the ballpark, at which Red Sox pitcher Brian Rose freely answered fans' questions. About five minutes into the session, someone asked Rose, who like a few others at the dinner, had taken advantage of the free beer policy, if he played Little League as a youngster. Rose playfully responded, "No, I never touched a baseball until I first reported to Red Sox spring training." Where else but spring training can fans have a few drinks with good-natured players cracking jokes?

The fact that everyone at Yale is either a Yankees or Mets fan makes me long for the company of Sox diehards. Accordingly, a key part of spring training is knowing that nearly everyone in the park knows—and more importantly, cares—as much as I do about the Red Sox. I knew I was in good company when I was able to have in-depth conversations with total strangers about the 1990 Red Sox pitching staff or the decision to pull Pete Schourek from Game Four of the 1998 Division Series.

Finally, the relaxing atmosphere at City of Palms Park is a special way to watch a ballgame. Boston fans, normally quick to turn against underachieving ballplayers, displayed a remarkably conciliatory tone toward Red Sox missteps. In one game, Ramon Martinez, slated to be the Sox' No. 2 starter, was lit up for six runs in two innings. But when he left the field to make way for a relief pitcher, fans still cheered him, and few seemed concerned that this pitcher, who must pitch well if the Red Sox are to contend, was off his game. Instead, many around me dismissed his negative performance, claiming that it was only important that he get some work in. Some even suggested that he was not using his best stuff; they claimed that he was working on his auxiliary pitches.

I am not saying that this type of attitude belongs inside Fenway Park when the Red Sox are competing for real. It doesn't. Nor should the players hang out with fans during the regular season. And, from April to October, teams certainly should not let players who belong in Triple-A play in place of the stars. But it's nice to enjoy baseball in these ways, and it can only be found at spring training.

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