Spring Training Is When Every Michigan Baseball Fan Believes

There's a stretch every February when Michigan is still frozen but Detroit baseball fans are already warm, because spring training has begun and, for a little while, everything is possible. It's the most hopeful season in sports — the weeks when every team is tied for first and every young prospect looks like the next great one.

The optimism window

Spring training exists in a bubble of possibility. The games don't count, the sun is out somewhere far from Michigan's snow, and the roster is full of hopefuls who haven't yet been humbled by a real season. For fans, it's a chance to dream in specifics — to imagine exactly how this year could be the good one.

"February is the only month my team is perfect," said fan Diane Kubiak. "I intend to enjoy it."

The reality clock

The magic has an expiration date. Opening day arrives, the games start counting, and reality reasserts itself with the first tough loss. But that's later. For now, the reports from camp are glowing, the prospects are raking, and every Michigan baseball fan is, briefly, undefeated. It's a ritual worth savoring precisely because it can't last.