Winter is not my favorite season. But my trick is to get sick of it before everybody else does. That way when I turn the corner and start thinking in a spring-state-of-mind, it doesn't bother me how much snow, or lousy weather we still have to endure. I'm ready. I'm ready for the buds to start showing on the trees, I'm ready to start seeing skirts, and some flesh move around the city again. I'm ready for rebirth, dog.

I usually make the move anywhere between late January and mid February, and this year, I made the transition this past weekend. The weather in New York was in the mid forties, and the sun was shinning. Em and I strolled through Central Park on Saturday and had the windows to our aparment cranked open the past two afternoons. I announced to her that winter is now dead to me. She that, "That's fine, don'e forget your scarf." No, no, it's still winter, of course. But the switch went off inside me. I could smell a faint hint of spring, which means a faint small of dirt, which means...well, what else could it mean: baseball's almost here. Truthfully, it'll be hear before we know it as pitchers and catchers report to the camps around the major leagues next week.

Hot Dog.

The Yanks may have forgotten about brining Ramiro Mendoza back now that they have extended an invitation to the veteran southpaw Buddy Groom to jern the team in spring training. If he makes the squad, he'll ink a one-year, $850,000 deal. Boy, if you could just turn the clock back three or four seasons, the Yankees would really have a powerhouse bullpen, with the likes of Felix Rodriguez, Steve Karsay, Tom Gordon, Paul Quantrill, Mike Stant Stanton, Groom, and of, course, Mariano Rivera holding down the fort. As it is, Groom gives the Yankees the left-handed specialist they lack. He may not be as impressive as Steve Kline, or the imposing B.J. Ryan, but he's probably a step-up from Stanton.