Sports
Throughout Florida and Arizona lockers are being cleared out, trucks are being packed and players are finally spending more time on the baseball field than the golf course as teams prepare to end spring training and begin Major League Baseball's regular season.
While this time of year is usually littered with hackneyed phrases like "On opening day, every team is in first place!" or "At the beginning of the year, everyone is in playoff contention," these clichs have historically served little more purpose than to fill up a sentimental piece about the smell of peanut shells and grass that emerge with the dawn of every new season.
However, after consecutive championships by the mid-to-small market Angels and Marlins, it seems as though for once these empty words hold some meaning.