During the two-month period of February and March, many sports fans are in a type of sports purgatory. Football just had the Super Bowl, basketball is in the waning moments of its season, the World Series was months ago, and no one generally seems to care about hockey.

For a small percentage of men and women, there is a date circled on the calendar in the middle of February. It is a proverbial “big day.” It is not the “big day” where you are supposed to buy your significant other chocolates and a nice, heartfelt Hallmark card, no.

It generally comes four or five days after that. It is the first day of a grueling 10-month cycle that repeats every year for the last 120 years plus. It is a tradition that is as American as apple pie, and, well, itself. It is the beginning of spring training for Major League Baseball.

Spring training is agreed by many to be a time of rebuilding and rebirth. After all, as Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame left fielder Ted Williams said it best.

“Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer,” Williams said.

Freshman Jordan Spitler also added, “I think spring training is good because it prepares and readies the players for the season, and helps them get back into shape.”

It is a time for successful teams to build upon their strengths and for the underachieving ones to try to find the missing link that will propel the team to a competitive level. It is a time where the young men of the sport vie for a highly coveted roster spot and when the veterans of the sport to shake out the cobwebs t to make their bodies work for one more season. It is also where new members of a team get to meet with their new teammates.

In 2007, the most highly publicized new arrival to any team is the Boston Red Sox acquisition of former Japanese league all star and 2006 World Baseball Classic Most Valuable Player pitcher, Diasuke Matsuzaka. He is nicknamed “The Monster”, because of his dominance of Japanese players and all-world talents during the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

He is also rumored to have thrown or is working on throwing a mythical “gyroball”; a pitch that, if possible, creates a bullet-like spin on the ball, as opposed to normal pitching that creates backspin on almost every pitch. The gyroball, when thrown from a right-handed pitcher, breaks sharply down and away from right-handed batters.

Spring is also a time for well-paid athletes to go to two very nice destinations: Florida, where teams compete in what is known as the Grapefruit League, or to Arizona, where teams compete in the Cactus League. All of the teams in the Grapefruit League play each other, and all of the teams in the Cactus League play each other, but the two leagues never play one another, creating anticipation for the season.

Spring training is also very important, but useless at the same time.

Los Angeles Dodgers Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Kofax talked about the importance of Spring Trainging.

“People who write about training being unnecessary, have never tried to throw a baseball.”

It can be very important to the young rookie who will get a regular season roster spot if he has an above-average spring training, but when the multi-year veteran has an off spring, many view it as taking a bit longer to get warmed up to the regular motion of things again.

The statistics are sometimes overlooked, for instance, in 2000, the Boston Red Sox pitched a perfect game, but used six different pitchers. It was one of the most rare and prestigious feats in baseball. The players on the field did not even notice the accomplishment until the game was over.

Also, the win-loss record does not matter much, either. For instance, in 2006 the Cincinnati Reds led the Major League with 26 victories in spring training, but then went 80-82 in the regular season and finished third in the National League Central Division behind the World Series-winning, St. Louis Cardinals.

When asked about the chances of the Reds this year, junior Chris Osborne said, “I like this year. I think they have a chance to make it to the playoffs. If they keep winning games like they do in spring training, then it’s going to be a good year.”