Sports Daily: Beautiful, meaningless baseball

It is over, friends. The long, dark night has passed and the weekend sun will soon rise over CoolToday Park and the beginning of spring training 2025.

(Also hi, I’m AJ Willingham. I usually write A.M. ATL and am taking over for Tyler while he’s off on his very first cruise. Thoughts and prayers to him.)

We could all write poetry about the first sweet days of a new season, when nothing really matters and no injuries or slumps have crept in to corrode a winter’s worth of optimism.

Worries can wait.

For now, it’s time to get the tops of our thighs sunburned in the Florida heat and watch the roster sort itself out.

THE VIBE IN NORTH PORT

Credit: Hyosub Shin / AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin / AJC

I have never been to CoolToday, the Braves’ current spring training home, although I spent many an inning in the cute little park inside ESPN’s Wide World of Sports before their 2019 move. Very festive.

To get us good and greased for the new season — but not worried! We’re not doing that yet — I asked AJC Braves beat reporter Justin Toscano how things are hanging down in North Port.

Take it away, Justin:

⚾ Thursday’s practice: “The vibe has been pretty good so far. It’s been fun to see the guys in action. Chris Sale pitching. Matt Olson hitting (though not against Sale). Utility infielder Nick Allen homering off Sale! (That’s one way to strengthen your bid to make the team.)”

💌 Fans are already in town: “It’s been fun to see fans asking — and getting — autographs. People have had a lot of fun watching the team. It already feels like spring is kind of flying by.” No, Justin! Don’t say that!

🌭 What to eat at CoolToday Field: “The kitchen sink nachos will more than do the job — they come in a huge pizza box. (Don’t tell your body I was the one who recommended them.)”

🌮 What to eat near the park: “If you’re looking for a quick lunch before a game, you should go to Irma’s Tacos, which is only a few minutes away.”

And, of course, keep up with Justin on X and BlueSky.

THE SKED FOR THE WEEKEND

👯 Saturday: Braves open spring training in Fort Myers against the Twins. Sale starts. The reigning Cy Young Award winner is a shoo-in for the opening day starting job in March if he can stay healthy.

☀️ Sunday: Braves play Tampa Bay in North Port.

Weather should be good for our first look at the team, with highs in the mid-70s and some cloud cover. We’ll get to some bigger thoughts Monday, but for now, enjoy some meaningless (or as close as it can get to meaningless) baseball.

ATLANTA UNITED TIME!!!

Credit: Jason Getz / AJC

Forgive me for all of the baseball mushiness when there’s soccer RIGHT HERE. Atlanta United opens its season Saturday at home against Montreal.

Team vet Brad Guzan will captain, his 142nd time leading the Five Stripes in action.
We’ll get a look at Emmanuel Latte Lath, who gets the joy of playing in front of a roaring 60,000-person crowd just two weeks after signing. Welcome to the A for real now, sir!
Lath says he’s ready to play 90 minutes out of the gate. Can he? Will he need to?

Other moments to watch for:

🏅 Once he hits the pitch Saturday, Guzan will become the first player in ATL UTD franchise history to reach 200 appearances in regular-season matches.

🏅 If Miguel Almiron gets a score or assist he’ll become the fourth player in team history to reach 50 goal contributions in regular-season matches. Can you name the other three? I’ll put the answer at the bottom.

Oh, and it’s Major League Soccer’s 30th season. So that’s fun.

A COLD WAR

Credit: Charles Krupa/AP

Watch the new 4 Nations hockey tournament, they said. It will be fun, they said. It definitely won’t turn into a chippy, geopolitical proxy fight where people boo each others’ national anthems.

All told, it was a fun time, and Canada took the inaugural title with a 3-2 overtime win Thursday night.

Can’t imagine that taunts from fans about making Canada part of the U.S. lit a fire under them or anything.

We wanted this one. You've got 40 million Canadians, sitting at home, and you feel the energy. Anytime you have the chance to play for our country, or the flag on our chest, it's a special, special feeling. ... It brings us together. And just glad we got to get this one.

- Canada forward Mark Stone

Let’s keep up that rivalry energy (on the ice, at least) before we meet again in the 2026 Olympics.

🥅 A breakdown of last night’s game.

OTHER WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS

🏀 UGA vs. Auburn, Saturday, 4 p.m. The Bulldogs are looking to finish the SEC stretch of the season strong after a disappointing three-game skid. It will be tough in a conference stacked with talent. Can they prove themselves against No. 1 Auburn?

🏀 Tech vs. Florida State, Sunday, 4 p.m. The Georgia Tech women lost to NC State on Thursday but are still in the hunt for a tournament berth. They have a tough one against Florida State.

🏀 Georgia State vs. Old Dominion, Saturday, 7 p.m. GSU snapped its four-game win streak with a loss to James Madison on Thursday but have high hopes for the weekend.

🏀 Georgia high school basketball playoffs continue this week. Here’s a first-round recap and schedule.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

The Hawks blew a 19-point lead and lost to Orlando 114-108, but at least Dyson Daniels and company looked cool while doing it.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I told my boss not to let me get all sappy and long-winded about baseball and he did a really bad job of it, so please join me back in the Emotional Baseball Box.

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops. …

Of course, there are those who learn after the first few times. They grow out of sports. And there are others who were born with the wisdom to know that nothing lasts … I am a simpler creature, tied to more primitive patterns and cycles. I need to think something lasts forever, and it might as well be that state of being that is a game; it might as well be that, in a green field, in the sun.

- Former MLB commish A. Bartlett Giamatti in his essay “Green Fields of the Mind.”

Oh, that’ll make you shed a tear! Enough. See you next week.

(The other three ATL UTD players to hit 50 regular-season goals/contributions are Josef Martinez (114), Thiago Almada (56) and Julian Gressel (50).)

Shameless A.M. ATL plug: Wake up with me M-F and get all the news you need to know from the non-sports world. (And sometimes sports.) Sign up here.

Thanks for reading to the very bottom of Sports Daily. Direct any light abuse to aj.willingham@ajc.com.

Until next time.

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