Staring out the window waiting for spring
“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” - Rogers Hornsby
It’s one of my favorite baseball quotes and most often attributed to HOFer Rogers Hornsby
Baseball season ended Saturday November 1 which signals the beginning of winter. The World Series wrapped up on Saturday night, and by early Sunday morning, the clocks had “fallen back” an hour - as they always do on the first Sunday of November, a tradition dating to 2005. It’s a subtle, almost sneaky reminder that winter is here, announced by the early fall of darkness at 5 p.m. For kids, there are no more catches with Dad after he comes home from work, if that still happens, and I sure hope that it does.
For baseball fans it’s out-the-window-staring time
November and December are baseball’s darkest months. For the die-hards, they know the Arizona Fall League season has already been wrapped up. For super die-hards, the winter baseball leagues for the 2025-2026 season have begun, with the Mexican Pacific, Dominican, and Venezuelan leagues having started October 15th. The Puerto Rican league starts this week. The regular season for these leagues ends December 30, with playoffs beginning January 2, 2026. The 2026 Caribbean Series will be held in Venezuela starting January 12, 2026. You’re welcome! But if you are interested in this stuff, you already knew anyway.
In March there is a silver lining in that the 2026 World Baseball Classic begins March 5th and runs through March 17th, four months from now – 120 long days! MLB’s Opening Day 2026 is March 25th (one game), and the rest of the teams open the next day, making 2026 the earliest Opening Day in MLB history.
Baseball offseason activities are no substitute for the real thing
I am a dedicated sports fan but not dedicated to other sports the way that I am to baseball. My capacity simply isn’t big enough to go deep into any more than one sport. And like Sarah Langs says, “Baseball is the Best”. The good thing is I am aware of this and don’t try to follow NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball, the NFL, NBA, or the NHL with the same avidity. I watch games, mainly those involved with the teams I root for which includes my weekly punishment watching the Jets in their ongoing attempt to be a professional football team. Fans will talk about baseball when postseason awards begin to be handed out. That’s fun for about two minutes but brings us no closer to spring.
What do I do in baseball’s off-season?
My sports watching ‘grazing’ gets me through Thanksgiving, which is always a football day, is just fine with me. MLB has “Owners meetings” in New York in early November where new rules/policies are formally voted upon although we already know ABS is coming for 2026 so there’s not much ‘new’ to anticipate. Perhaps there will be some leaks about a new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) since after the World Series next year there is no agreement and because the owners seem to want a salary cap, it’s quite possible there may not be any MLB played for a long time after 2026. And as I’ve said before, Bananaball is not a worthy substitute but might be what’s left. Ugh.
December comes and goes with (hopefully) a little juice coming out of MLB’s Winter Meetings December 8-11 in Orlando. We fans look for a big trade or two or the signing of a marquee free agent as free agent ‘season’ seems to kick off with the winter meetings. Fans hope for a Christmas ‘present’ in the form of a coveted player joining their team. But we’re still staring out the window and it’s dark outside most of the time.
Baseball Hall-of-Fame ballots go out to BBWA writers in December and following Ryan Thibodeaux’s HOF vote tracker is an amusement. The announcement of who made it into Cooperstown comes in early January.
And with the turn of the calendar to a new year, January is just one month before MLB Spring Training begins! That’s something that excites all baseball fans. Hardcore fans have already been counting the days until pitchers and catchers report to their teams and by January 1 that number is close to 40 which seems in and of itself, hopeful. By later in January the NCAA Football champion has been crowned, the NFL is in full playoff mode, the NBA, NHL and College seasons are at the midway point so there are plenty of, distractions.
Daylight is noticeably longer as February dawns and already players may have reported early to their Spring Training sites to be fully prepared for the rigors of Spring Training and the season to follow. There are no winters off for MLBers anymore. Each player has their own routine and process for readying themselves to hit the ground running when their teammates join them for full squad workouts.
There are games that count in February
No MLB games in February. But college baseball is fun and gets underway that month, however I don’t watch any college baseball before the conference tournaments in May in advance of the College World Series. The ping of the bat doesn’t do it for me like the crack of the bat.
March rolls in and the clocks magically spring forward that first Sunday and right away you sense a big difference. It’s light out until close to 7PM and while there still might be snow on the ground, it melts more quickly, and you know that there will be actual MLB games later in the month! Which is weird since March baseball was not a thing before this century.
I will admit that I look forward to watching the Met’s first Spring Training game broadcast from Florida by SNY and the HOF team of Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling. Their talk, the sounds, the sun, the players in uniform, all make me happy and excited for the season soon to come. Chances are this will the only Spring Training game I watch for more than an inning. Games that don’t count bore me.
2026 Spring Training will be different as some of the biggest stars will not be around once the WBC starts. The WBC final is only eight days before the start of the season. For that reason, I think this off season will be easier than most as it will feel shorter. Given the possibility of a labor action for 2027 I will try to appreciate as much as I can since not having Spring Training next year would be the beginning of awfulness for baseball.
I don’t want to be staring out the window in Spring; I want to be watching Major League Baseball!
About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and now Substack.com.
1. A million years ago (when I was a kid), ballplayers would often play in winter leagues to work on weaknesses in their hitting, or to develop new pitches, or just to make a few extra dollars. Now, I don't hear about that much anymore. I'm sure there are a few who do it, but I'm wondering how common this is in today's game.
2. Going on past history, the two sides will wait until the last instant to do any real negotiating on the CBA. The only thing which seems to move the needle is the threat of both sides losing revenue through a work stoppage.
3. I used to look forward to the announcement of the new inductees into the Hall of Fame. I still do (to a point), but it isn't as fun as it once was. I think Bob Costas has the right idea. He has said the Hall of Fame should place a sign on the door (which fans will see as they enter) which states the inductees (depending on the era) include players who used dead balls, live balls, foreign substances, amphetamines, PEDs, were convicted of crimes, and played during racial segregation. The Hall of Fame is filled with humans who demonstrated human failings.
My thoughts exactly!!! Pro football holds nothing for me; SEC football is the best, IMHO. Auburn fired its current coach, too late in the season to hope for any more wins but hoping to Beat Bama in the Thanksgiving weekend Iron Bowl which is the whole point of the football schedule. After that, a sigh, and wait for February. I am wearing Astros World Series Champs Shirt and Astros sleep pants. I have ordered two pairs of Astros sleep pants of some types type as this pair and the other two have miniscule holes in them. I am not a seamstress by any stretch of imagination...