Crickets. Spring training starts, and we get crickets. Which is fine, which actually, might be pretty good.
The Dodgers are two days into their very new training camp and all is calm. Quiet as a desert night. No surprises, nothing newsy, nothing to get overly concerned or excited about.
Maybe Kenley Jansen going down before camp opened really will prove their only setback. Unlikely, but possible.
Every healthy pitcher and catcher reported on time, and as typical, several position players arrived early — including Yasiel Puig, so there’s that. After the first day of workouts Friday, no one tripped over Manny Mota’s three-wheeler. No one walked into the White Sox clubhouse by mistake.
There was no sighting of Joba Chamberlain or the Next Great Thing from Cuba. Hyun-Jin Ryu did not jog 200 yards behind the other pitchers. Maybe a couple of guys really did show up in the best shape of their lives. Brett Anderson threw a bullpen and was not injured. Owners did not announce plans for a new NFL stadium.
Everybody said the right things. President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and Manager Don Mattingly met with the press Thursday and said pretty much nothing. Zach Greinke continued to say the smart things.
Mostly it was crickets. Which doesn’t necessarily make for the most exciting early Dodgers stories and posts, but is just fine for getting to work and after it. Just baseball, which can be a very good thing.
New dad Clayton Kershaw showed up and still seemed a little chappy over the way his postseason ended, and that can’t be a bad thing. Wouldn’t say whether he did or did not want friend A.J. Ellis as his personal catcher. Ellis continued to be wise.
“I don’t need a title of starting catcher or backup catcher,” he said. “I just want to be a World Series champion catcher.”
The big news of camp has yet to be announced: The start to Kershaw’s annual camp pingpong tournament. That closer stuff will have to wait.
All this opening baseball serenity can change in a heartbeat, but for now all is calm. All is about baseball. The start to what they hope is an 8 1/2 month process.
Follow Steve Dilbeck on Twitter @stevedilbeck
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