Ah, spring ... even if it's just down south

If there is a sign of spring in all of the cold, it’s this: Pitchers and catchers report to spring training camp this week.

The first teams’ pitchers and catchers report to camp on Thursday; the Tigers pitchers and catchers report on Friday. The full team reports Feb. 20, a week from Wednesday.

I’ve gotten to the point where I really look forward to spring training. It’s the first marker for spring. Granted, it’s cold outside, but there is just something about the prospect of spring and then summer being right around the corner.

It helps that the Tigers are good again. It wasn’t much fun for Tigers fans for about 15 years, but now it’s more like the 1980s when the teams of Trammell, Whitaker, Morris, Parrish and Gibson were a threat.

This year’s version of the Tigers is potent offensively, at least on paper. The question, as it has been, is the bullpen. But you know what, hope springs eternal in the offseason, so I’m not worried yet.

Let the baseball begin.