Frost: Keep Off the Field

Feb. 23, 2010GIANTS PAGE
GIANTS VIDEO
SCOTTSDALE,Ariz.Tuesday marked the first full-squad workout for the Giants, and the dayfeatured a few other firsts, too.Greeting playerswalking up the steps from the clubhouse to the field early in the morning was asign that read, FROST: KEEP OFF THE FIELD.Thats right,frost. The recent rain left the outfield soaked, and the very cold night frozeit over. Also, the standing water on the tarp froze overnight, creating theunique-to-baseball sight of mounds of ice ringing the infield after the tarpwas removed.So practice wasdelayed by 30 minutes or so, and as far as anyone can remember its the Giantsfirst-ever frost delay.The sun isfinally back, though, and to the delight of about 45 fans, who showed up on thefirst day of spring for which the gates at Scottsdale Stadium were open to thepublic, the workout went off as planned.Theres not awhole lot to see, quite frankly. Drills, drills and more drills mostly. Butthat monotony is nothing to the die-hards here compared to the monotony of along winter without baseball. The lifers who showed up Tuesday were here moreto hear the sweet sounds of the game and get a first look at their boys thanthey were interested in the state of Alex Hinshaws breaking ball.Hinshaw, by theway, is quickly becoming one of my favorite Giants. Kevin Frandsen, too. Likeso many of their teammates, theyve got personality galore, and nicer, moreaccessible players youll have a hard time finding.Did a ton ofinterviews for various TV packages youll be seeing over the next couple ofweeks, and the best interview of the day might have been our long chat with newhitting coach Hensley Muelens.Bam Bam isunder the microscope as the man charged with transforming the offense, but hesure is comfortable with the role. Eloquent -- in five languages -- andengaging, he seems like a nice fit for a team that features a blend ofestablished veterans and youngsters on the rise.The other firsttoday was manager Bruce Bochys first team-wide address, delivered before theworkout, behind closed doors. I havent heard how it went as I write this post,but Im sure Ill have something on it later today in one of my flip-cam homevideos. --MychaelUrbanWhat's your take? Email Mychael and let him know. He may use it in his weekly Mailbag.