The long winter is nearly over. The foul lines are chalked, the outfield grass is mowed as precisely as the greens at Augusta and the Mets are holding a closeout sale at their Alex Rodriguez merchandise tent in Port St. Lucie. Following an agonizing five-month layoff, it's almost time to hear the umpires cry, "Play ball," the greatest two words in the English language next to "happy hour."

Nomar Garciaparra appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated for a story on his incredible fitness routine, and entered the trainer's room with a sore wrist about seven seconds later.

Hurry. The season opens this weekend and there are players to welcome back. After undergoing knee surgery and saving the world from Lex Luthor, Mark McGwire returns from the Fortress of Solitude and to the St. Louis lineup. After becoming public enemy number one for PETA, Randy Johnson returns to the mound in Arizona. And after consulting his latest advisor of choice -- the Magic 8-Ball -- Gary Sheffield is still with the Dodgers. For now. ("Will Sheffield demand a trade before the season ends?" "It is certain.")

Hurry. The season opens Sunday and there are players to track down. A-Rod left Seattle and joined Texas after signing the largest contract in sports history -- a $252 million deal that actually includes incentive clauses (which is a bit like Warren Buffett asking for the senior discount). Mike Mussina left his team of 10 years to sign with the Yankees, where he spent a grueling spring learning the proper way to ride in a convertible during a ticker tape parade. And when Chuck Knoblauch committed six errors at second base by mid-March, the Yankees moved him to left field, where he will attempt to hit the cutoff man instead of Keith Olbermann's mother.

Hurry. The equipment vans are loading and spring training is ending -- and just in time, after an injury-filled six-week stretch when donning a uniform seemed as risky as flying between home plate and a Big Unit fastball.

Derek Jeter may begin the season on the disabled list. Ken Griffey Jr. injured his hamstring rounding third base and may miss the season opener. Nomar Garciaparra appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated for a story on his incredible fitness routine, and entered the trainer's room with a sore wrist about seven seconds later (he may be out until August).

Cal Ripken missed most of spring training with a broken rib and he was the healthy Oriole. Albert Belle retired due to a degenerative hip, sending his fan into mourning.

Hurry, they're taking batting practice and there still are players to meet. Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki, who, along with the Mets' Tsuyoshi Shinjo, will become the first Japanese position players in major-league history, is being covered by so many reporters you expect "Hail to the Chief" to be played before his at-bats. After shutting out Cuba and leading the United States to the Olympic gold medal, Milwaukee's Ben Sheets faces an even more daunting challenge -- lifting the Brewers to a .500 record. Yankee rookie Alfonso Soriano replaces Knoblauch at second base, allowing the Yankees to start selling those seats behind first base again.

Hurry, they're singing the national anthem and we still have so many questions to answer. Can Todd Helton bat .400? Can anyone knock off the Yankees? Will the new strike zone help Pedro Martinez lower his ERA below 1.12? Will it be high enough for Rick Ankiel to find his control? (Until he does, the area between home plate and the backstop is a strict no-fly zone for doves.)

And most importantly, will Cubs fans be able to say, "Wait 'til next year" if there isn't a labor agreement between players and owners?

Hurry. The new season is practically upon us and it's time to find our seats. Time to sharpen our pencils, fill out our scorebooks and wait in anticipation for the first pitch of the season, the first pitch that renews us and makes us feel younger, the first pitch that opens up an entire summer ripe with infinite possibilities -- Hey! Did you see that what happened to that dove?

Box score line of the spring
As usual, there was a lot of competition this spring. There was Pedro's spring debut when he fanned seven in three innings, the day Raines Sr. and Raines Jr. topped a Montreal-Baltimore box score, Ankiel's eight-walk, 1.2 inning performance and those many days Knoblauch found an E next to his name.

But this year's first award goes to Pirates minor leaguer Erik Plantenberg, who was brought up from the minor-league camp to pitch the 10th inning March 25 with Pittsburgh leading Philadelphia 6-4. He threw 26 pitches, only six of which crossed the strike zone and none of which the Phillies swung at. Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon was so disgusted by the performance that he not only removed Plantenberg after the fifth walk, he took his entire team off the field to end the game in a 6-6 tie. McClendon said Plantenberg was on a strict pitch count, which is why he ended the game (the Pirates had run out of pitchers).

Plantenberg's line:

0 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 0 K

Apparently, that new high strike zone still isn't quite high enough.

From left field
Ichiro and Shinjo will become the first Japanese position players in major-league history when the season opens next week, but there already have been 10 Japanese pitchers on big league mounds, beginning with Masanori Murakami in 1964. The 10:

Pitcher	Years	The skinny
Masanori Murakami	1964-65	5-1, 3.43 career ERA
Hideo Nomo	1995-present	1995 Rookie of the Year with Dodgers
Mac Suzuki	1996-present	Kansas City's top starter a year ago
Shigetoshi Hasegawa	1997-present	10-5, 3.48 ERA last year
Hideki Irabu	1997-present	Fat Toad was 2-5 with 7.24 ERA last year
Takashi Kashiwada	1997	3-1 in only season with Mets
Masato Yoshii	1998-present	15-game loser last year
Masao Kida	1999-2000	Back in Japan
Tomokazu Ohka	1999-present	Could join Nomo in Boston rotation
Kazu Sasaki	2000-present	2000 AL Rookie of the Year

Win Blake Stein's money
This week's category: Presidents Who Weighed Even More Than David Wells.

Q. Who was the first president to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of a season? (Answer below)

Power rankings

1. Yankees Final fundamental drill: voting on World Series shares.

2. Athletics Odd. Rolling blackouts haven't affected them yet.

3. Russell Crowe Wilson the volleyball got screwed.

4. Alex Rodriguez He's top-of-the-fold news ... until Cowboys open mini-camp.

5. Cardinals Busy winter for Mac: rehabbed knee, revealed secret identity to Lois Lane.

6. Mets Little known codicil in A-Rod contract: They still must put him on Shea billboards.

7. Japan Historic trade gap: Ichiro leaves, "Dude, Where's My Car" arrives.

8. Bjork She looked like she flew in front of a Big Unit fastball.

9. Rick Ankiel That dove would still be alive had he been pitching.

10. Nomar Garciaparra Next cover: he bares wrist for Orthopedic Illustrated.

Jim Caple is a Senior Writer for ESPN.com.