Minor Leaguers are back at the ballpark

JUPITER, Fla. - Ahh, the first days of spring training.

The Dugout is a little late arriving, but at least it's in the ballpark. Am currently sitting at Roger Dean Stadium watching a titanic clash between the unknown Florida Marlins and the barely-known Washington Nationals.

It may be what Ben Folds was talking about in his song “Battle of Who Could Care Less.” But that’s beside the point. It’s March and there’s real baseball being played.

Today is the first day of full workouts for Cardinals minor leaguers (They share the spring training complex with Florida). Saw Dugout favorite Matt Pagnozzi. The catcher was in major league camp until yesterday. He hopes to begin the season with Triple-A Memphis.

Former Palm Beach Cardinal managers Pop Warner and Gaylen Pitts are still with the organization. Pitts will return to Palm Beach for his second Florida State League season.

As good as it was to see some of the younger guys, today was more about the big leaguers. The Dugout is writing a couple of stories for Junior Baseball magazine. Today’s feature is on former Arizona Diamondback and current Florida Marlin Luis Gonzalez.

Did get the opportunity to talk a little minor league ball with Gonzo. One of his more bizarre memories involves the strange toilet location in the middle Auburn’s clubhouse.

“In between the lockers there was actually a stall and it looked like a horse stall, so when a player was taking a poop their head was sticking up above the partition,” Gonzalez said. “It was kind of weird. A lot of times people don’t realize that things aren’t as glamorous as everybody assumes they are in the minor leagues.”Pooping conditions aside, it’s good to be back at the ballpark.