5 bullet-point rumblings before Opening Day 2012

Seattle - In seven days, baseball fans can finally stop paying attention to meaningless games featuring players with jersey numbers in between 60 and 90.

Spring is in full swing, and spring training is almost over.

I'm in rival AL West territory at the moment, typing this blog from my hotel room at the Red Lion in Seattle. SocialTech 2012, a social media/marketing conference, brought me to Washington this weekend. First time to visit the Emerald City. It rained every day I was here, to no one's surprise, but I was impressed with the abundance of fresh/quality food I tasted on this trip (more on that later).

For now, here are five bullet-point rumblings as we prepare for Opening Day 2012:

• My shirt of the season is in: The much-anticipated Yu Darvish shirt, a birthday present from the thoughtful Taylor (@taylornjohnson), recently arrived in the mail. In fact, it arrived the day before I left for Seattle. What better way to break it in than in enemy territory? As I said when I posted the photo on Facebook: "Yes, this is really happening":
  

Ahhhh, YU!

• The Rangers should play Josh Hamilton in center field: Yeah, sure, it's more of an injury risk to put Hamilton in center field, where he's forced to cover more ground and potentially bang into walls running down long fly balls. But Craig Gentry (injury-plagued spring), Julio Borbon (didn't carry out fundamentals in spring, like bunting) and Leonys Martin (still too raw) didn't do anything to win the position over. Despite the Rangers' desire to play Hamilton in left as much as possible, the fact remains that our best lineup entails Hamilton in center and David Murphy in left. Plus, it's no guarantee that Hamilton will be a Ranger beyond this year. His contract is up after 2012, and the Rangers may not be willing to pull the trigger on the price he's likely to seek. Or, put another way, other teams (think L.A. Dodgers and their new Magic Johnson-led ownership) may be willing to shell out a lot more guaranteed cash. Therefore, we should try to get as much as possible out of Hamilton in his potential last year in Arlington.

• MLB needs to cut the Japan 'season opener': Opening Day is a sacred sports day. I look forward to Opening Day more than any other sports day. I have no problem with Oakland facing Seattle in Japan, but don't play it two weeks before the season like they did this past week, and make it count toward the real standings. I am a hardcore baseball fan, and had no interest in this game. And the teams are in my division.

• My fantasy player of the year: Justin Upton. I selected Upton with the ninth overall pick in my fantasy baseball draft this season. I will be forced to watch many Arizona games on mlb.tv. Looking forward to it. I saw Upton live two years ago in Colorado and marveled at his abilities at the plate, on the basepaths and in the field. True five-tool player. And the guy blasts monster home runs. He's still only 24 years old. Time for a Matt Kemp-like breakout.

• Seattle food is as fresh as anywhere in the country: I'm no food blogger (like, say, my old roommate Brenna - awesome blog), but I found myself taking pictures of two meals that I had during my stay. Being located on the coast certainly helps, but the quality of food in Seattle is extraordinary. My first meal in Seattle was lunch on Thursday at an Italian restaurant called Tulio. I started with butternut squash soup...

 

 ...Then moved on to a malfatti dish (light pillows folded over in rectangles; kind of like ravioli, but lighter) that featured whipped red beets in the middle with a butter sauce on top. Truthfully one of the best Italian dishes I've ever had. I never knew I'd like beets so much:

On Friday night, I ventured into the seafood world. This is Seattle, after all. I ate in the lounge of the Terrace Garden Restaurant inside the Red Lion. I chose the sake salmon with shitake soy butter sauce with rice and veggies. Amazing:

All in all a great trip to Seattle. Learned about social media strategy, networked with some quality people and ate some fresh/quality food. I couldn't have asked for more out of a business trip.