It’s important enough to keep in the front of your mind, this one thing about Spring Training; don’t read too much into anything.  You can’t watch these games in the same context that you’d watch any of the 162 that count; they just aren’t played that way.  For the fans in Goodyear, some local and some quite traveled, the experience isn’t about watching your team win, but seeing them or anyone play.

Just two days before the Goodyear Ballpark began hosting its fifth season of Major League Baseball, snow hit parts of the desert, near the Indians spring home, quite a few exits west of the metropolis we call Phoenix.  However, when it was time to play ball on Friday, there wasn’t a cloud to be found in the bright blue desert sky.

If we were to ignore the guy on the bump, we saw a group very similar to what Terry Francona is going to send out on the field to start the game, when the games start to mean something.  That group included Michael Bourn, the exciting surprise that the Indians front office added at what amounts to the eleventh hour; he wore #24, played center field, and was at the top of the lineup card, but we weren’t thinking of anyone else or anything.  The Indians new center fielder is likely to be a favorite among fans everywhere, including our friends from Seattle.

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Writing this week’s View from the Porch while listening to Tom Hamilton is a thing of beauty. The soothing sound of the voice of the Indians Radio Network is cathartic. It’s amazing to think that I began my day spending 10 minutes scraping a quarter-inch of ice off of each window on my truck and now I’m listening to Spring Training baseball.

With that in mind, here’s my annual public service announcement: Please remember that Spring Training stats mean very little. Early in Spring Training, the pitchers are mostly working on fastball command and building velocity, which will both inflate their statistics and inflate the statistics for the hitters. Specifically, with the Cactus League in Arizona, hitters get to hit in dry, warm conditions, where the ball carries very well and infields are extremely fast from being baked in the sun all day and receiving moisture only from sprinkler systems.

Unfortunately, for most of us, it’s hard to evaluate anything from Spring Training for ourselves. We have to rely on reports from those that are there, because Spring Training is all about the eye test. You can pretty much throw most of the numbers out, so the way that players look is what tells the story. Players are attempting to make adjustments and will use game scenarios to do that. There is an adjustment period for everybody and it will affect their numbers.

Now that my PSA is out of the way, there are some things that need to work themselves out in Spring Training. Unlike in years past, there are no battles for everyday spots in the lineup. Lonnie Chisenhall finally gets to go to Goodyear knowing that the third base job is his. Everybody knows their role and can focus on being ready for the season rather than winning a job.

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In recent weeks there has been a renewal in the discussion over the use of American Indian names and images in sports.

From calls - on both the local and national level - for the Washington Redskins to change their name, to a recent symposium at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian on Racist Stereotypes and Cultural Appropriation in American Sports, the topic is gaining renewed attention.

While the discussion about the continued use of Chief Wahoo and the name Indians by the Cleveland baseball team has gained more strong local attention than national, the topic is always going to be a divisive one in Northeast Ohio.

Which is why a recent column by Paul Lukas at ESPN caught our eye. In a follow-up to his piece on the symposium, Lukas interviewed Frank Cloutier, public relations director for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe in central Michigan, about the tribe's position on the use of American Indian imagery and names. Cloutier's explanation of the tribe's position is an interesting one:

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They say patience is a virtue. Guess some of the new Indians do not believe in that virtue.

Now look. A way back ways when the Indians had Eric Wedge as their manager, Derek Shelton was the hitting coach. He preached an approach of patience. It also worked out that the hitting talent that the Indians had really fit that mold.

That approach was annoying. For a few reasons.

It didn't really preach putting the ball in play as much. It meant waiting for your pitch, which is a good idea. The problem is that sometimes your pitch didn't come or that your best pitch was one you passed up as a hitter.

It led to strikeouts. Or it led to plain out bad outs.

So now I ask. What's the big deal in that the Indians acquired a bunch of guys who strike out? At least they're going to try and swing the bat. A high amount of walks is great. I love walks. But walks don't score runs, only give you the opportunity to.

You know what scores runs? Hits. Big hits. And that my friends is where we take off in today's version of the Spring Training Rundown.

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