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While last weekend's snowstorm might lead you to believe otherwise, you can rest assured that spring is much closer than you might think.
If you have any doubts, you need only look to Florida and Arizona for the most time-honored sign that better weather is on the way.
Those locations are where Major League Baseball's spring training camps opened Thursday. Exhibition games started Friday, and that means the start of the regular season is just around the corner.
Baseball faces a compressed schedule this year because the players and owners were not able to settle their most recent labor dispute until 10 days ago. But the game itself remains important, and all involved have figured out a way to get all 162 games in this year.
And that's why the ritual of spring training and exhibition games remains important.
For the Pirates, those began Friday when the Yankees visited Lecom Park in Bradenton, Fla., Pittsburgh's home for spring training. That game marked the start of an 18-game Grapefruit League schedule.
They are scheduled to play Detroit at 1:05 p.m. Saturday and Toronto at 1:05 p.m. Sunday in Dunedin, Fla.
Cleveland and Cincinnati head out west for Cactus League action, and the Guardians and Reds opened exhibition play against each other at the Goodyear, Ariz., facility they share.
Cleveland is scheduled to visit the White Sox at 4:05 p.m. Saturday in Glendale, Ariz., and Oakland at 4:05 p.m. Sunday in Mesa, Ariz. Cincinnati will host Oakland Saturday and San Francisco Sunday.
While those games don't really count, fans will be watching so they can get a better idea of what to expect when the regular season opens. For the Pirates, the season opener is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. April 7 in St. Louis. The home-opener for the Pirates is set for 4:15 p.m. April 12 when the Cubs visit PNC Park.
The Guardians, meanwhile, will open their regular-season play at 4:10 p.m. April 7 when they visit Kansas City, with their home-opener set for 7:10 p.m. April 15 against San Francisco. Cincinnati opens at 7:20 p.m. April 7 in Atlanta, and will meet Cleveland in its home opener at 4:10 p.m. April 12.
Of the many sure signs of spring that we seek every year, the return of baseball always proves to be the most reliable.
We hope everyone will sit back and enjoy the games as the countdown toward opening day marches forward.