Pablo Sandoval

San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval hit a home run Saturday on his first swing in his first batting practice at this year’s spring training.

After taking the league by storm in 2009 with a .330 average, 25 home runs and 90 RBI, Sandoval’s 2010 campaign was one of the year’s biggest disappointments across the majors. All season long, Sandoval battled with weight issues and off-the-field problems that carried over to the field.

This week marked the week highly anticipated by fans across the country, as the unofficial starting point to spring training, and the 2011 baseball season—pitchers, catchers, and then the rest of the squad, all report.

Looking beyond the symbolism, is the literal meaning—it's practically a reunion. Players, coaches, and staff all gather officially for the first time since the end of the season, and for new players, a chance to meet some of your team, most likely for the first time.

“Athlete” and “in shape” are often thought of as going together. It's part of the requirement, right?

You can't be one without the other.

Unless, of course, you are a major league baseball player. Then being fat is okay.

Maybe it's part of the appeal millions of Americans still have to what was once the national pastime, but baseball is a sport that can be played by the short or tall, fast or slow and in-shape or out of shape.

Dear Giants Fans,

Congratulations, the Giants won the 2010 World Series. They narrowly edged out the Padres in the final series of the season and rode the momentum to a World Series Championship. Nobody can deny the Giants were the best baseball team during the 2010 postseason. They have the hardware to prove it. Now let’s come back to reality and understand why the Giants are not favorites to repeat in 2011.

Spring training is almost here.

The sights and sounds of baseball are soon to come, and the Giants are prepared to defend their title with much of the same formula as 2010.  Pablo Sandoval, however, was not a part of the 2010 formula.  To say 2010 was a "disappointment" for Sandoval is an understatement.

As February dawns here in 2011, that can only mean one thing for baseball fans, here comes spring training. And with the breath of fresh air and the feeling that only a beginning can supply comes a time when all the questions are going to be tackled. For three months us Giants fans have been basking in the glow of a World Series victory, the first for the city. And now, the Giants must begin their first title defense in the history of San Francisco.

There are some guys in baseball I must accept I will never own. This is because their prices are projected so far ahead of their realistic value in fantasy baseball, that their owners will stubbornly demand my left arm for them, regardless of the statistics that place their value more in the appendix vicinity.

Some of them are overvalued because they are mediocre producers at very shallow positions, and others are superb producers at a position loaded with stars.

One way or the other, they just aren’t worth inquiring about anymore. 

Word out today is that 2010 World Series MVP Edgar Renteria is to sign with the Cincinnati Reds for one-year, $3M deal.

As a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan at heart, let me be the first to assure you the team should not and almost certainly will not ultimately sign Adrian Beltre.

Though the slick-fielding third baseman is the best free agent left on the market by far, the fact that Beltre employs Scott Boras to do his negotiating means he will go for tippity-top dollar. It also means this is precisely the position Scotty wanted his client in i.e. the biggest and brightest name left in neon lights because it adds a heavy dose of leverage to the proceedings.

It took 52 years, but the San Francisco Giants are World Series Champions.  I can now cross that first and foremost item off my sports fan bucket list.

The San Francisco Giants have given their fans numerous heartbreaks, too many to list in this article, but now, all is forgiven.  I have put together a fun piece to showcase the true Giant "hot dogs" who donned the orange and black.