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Blurry Spring Training Photos Mean Baseball Is Finally Back

Baseball is in the air. 

Dan Gartland

Blurry Spring Training Photos Mean Baseball Is Finally Back
Blurry Spring Training Photos Mean Baseball Is Finally Back /

Baseball season seems so painfully far away. Snow has blanketed the country literally from coast to coast. Bryce Harper and Manny Machado remain unemployed. And yet, it really won’t be too long before you can sit out in the sun at the ballpark. How do we know? Because an army of baseball reporters has descended on Florida and Arizona to begin transmitting images of your favorite baseball players doing baseball things. 

Or at least, that’s what they tell us these photos are. Because honestly, year after year, the photos are little more than vaguely humanoid shapes against green backgrounds. Despite advances in iPhone camera technology, spring training photos remain as blurry as ever. So sit back, cue up the requisite soundtrack and enjoy these reminders that a new season has dawned. 

In all seriousness, I love seeing these awful pictures every February. It warms the heart, as winter drags on, to be reminded that we’re not that far away summer and the comforting routine of baseball every day. I can’t wait for more photos when players from other teams report later this week.

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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).

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