Today is my second favorite day of the year. Spring Training begins for the Minnesota Twins. For those who are wondering, my favorite day is the home opener.

The Twins catchers and pitchers report to Ft. Meyers, FL today to start training. It’s so exciting. Everything from last season is erased, they get to start over again. And that’s what’s exciting with the Twins. They’re a young club, but they’re good. They don’t have the biggest payroll in the league, so when players get good, they leave. But that gives younger guys the chance to step up and make something of themselves. It’s exciting. This year, most of the players are returning, a few left, but it’s okay.

One of the most anticipated pairs to return to the Dome are Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. They’re insanely good. Joe, who everyone in the Twin Cities idolizes, represents everything about the sport’s history and future. He doesn’t do anything fancy, he sticks to the basics. He’s got a solid swing, quick on his toes and knows the game inside and out. His only fault is he gets hurts all the time.

Mauer was a superstar athlete in high school, turned down a full ride to play football at Florida State, was a first round draft pick for the Twins, won the American League’s batting league title twice, oh, and he’s 25 (and no, I don’t stalk him. He’s an exciting player to watch).

The only problem with him, is he gets injured every other month. Just this past off season he went under the knife for a kidney obstruction.

I know many skeptics and baseball haters say he is probably juicing. There’s been too many recent reports showing dozens of top ball players, including A. Rod, take steroids to enhance their game. I don’t think Mauer is. In fact, I’d be shocked and deeply disappointed if he were. The guy has consistently been been a sports God since high school. His brothers are also good. It’s in his blood. He doesn’t need a shot in the butt twice a week to be good - he just is. Not to mention, if he is juicing, he’s been fooling a lot of people for years.

Okay, enough with the scary steroids talk. This is the final season for the Twins in the Metrodome. They’ve played in the Homer Domer for since 1982. I’m so excited for the Twinkies to be playing outdoor ball I can’t even begin to explain it (outdoor ball games is one of the reasons I love the Royals so much). The only thing I’ll really miss about the Dome are the Dome Dogs (1/4 lb all beef hot dogs)… but I’m willing to make that sacrifice.

This is a great day. This is the official start of spring. This is the Twins’ season to go all the way.