Spring Training in Montana

This is not what you expected if you put “Spring Training” in the context of baseball, but what we are sharing with you certainly could happen in most areas of Montana. About the time that baseball gets into full swing, the boys who have been waiting in the “bull pens” for the prior 9 to 10 months, are finally released to do their thing. Just like in baseball, the boys in the bull pen are getting ready, most likely in a different way than you would suspect.

The ball park, pictured below, is much larger. What you see on the right side of the picture, across the warm up lane is the 1000 acre playing field, the bull pen is only about 40 acres on the left side of the picture. The guy in the warm-up lane has crossed the fence from the bull pen in anticipation of the “real game” that he has been waiting for. Last year, a little later in the season, he crossed that same fence, out of the bull pen, worked the lane just long enough to find a spot where he could get into the playing field, unannounced and without the managers approval. He played ball for a couple days until the manager found him and by that time he had given up a lot of hits and several home runs.

The circumstances are all too familiar to him again. He has been in the “bull pen” since late last spring, he remembers his experience from last spring, and we know he is much smarter than the owners give him credit for. So, the day these pictures were taken, he crossed the first fence, worked the warm up lane, and was checking out the fence into the playing field. Unfortunately for him, his owners found him and returned him to the bull pen.

Come back often and we’ll share some of his hits from last year,