Jim Souhan: Spring charms to soothe even the most savage of us

FORT MYERS, FLA. - Tom Kelly's stoicism and combativeness during his career as manager of the Twins forged his reputation as a gruff, serious man; Minnesota's Lombardi.

Saturday morning, the supposed curmudgeon spoke softly of the charms and rhythms of spring training, of the dew on the morning field.

This is the effect spring training has on baseball lovers and lifers -- the sight of pristine grass in the sunlight can elicit free-verse poetry from even a tough guy from Jersey.

"To walk out each morning at 9 o'clock and see the grass, and a little dew, and see the players go to work, that's pretty good," Kelly said in the Twins clubhouse as he prepared for another day of teaching. "You are immediately elevated, your mind and your body."

Spring training baseball is the anti-sport, a season in which craft and atmosphere trump competition. If the rest of sport is a neon billboard, spring training is as subtle as a watercolor.

Saturday at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, the Twins held their first full-squad workout of the season. If you don't like baseball, what you would see are repetitive drills and a little batting practice.

Kelly always sees more.

"Anybody who likes baseball that is able, in this day and age, to save some money, you can come down here and get a little closer to the action and see what big-league players go through on a daily basis, how they work and prepare," Kelly said. "Especially if you've got a youngster who really likes the game, you can push them -- or ease their way toward baseball here.

"To come down to spring training and watch this, I think it's wonderful."

Brendan Harris, the new Twins second baseman, remembers just such a moment. He was a kid, visiting Hammond Stadium and wearing a bright white cast on a broken arm. Kelly approached a group of fans and singled out Harris.

Harris remembered this exchange:

"How'd you do that, son?"

"Playing basketball."

"What does that tell you?"

"No more basketball?"

"Thataboy."

Saturday, Harris mimicked his eyes widening as Kelly approached, and Kelly said: "Yesterday, we're walking up from Field 3, I did some drills with the infielders, and Brendan Harris told me that story. I thought, 'Oh, boy, I must really be getting old.' But he remembered that. It must have made a little impact on him as a youngster."

Saturday at the Twins complex, for the first time you could see Carlos Gomez, the key prospect in the Johan Santana deal, take live batting practice. (He's athletic but raw.) You could watch 18-year-old prospect Deolis Guerra throw live batting practice. (Ditto.) You could hear Twins legend Tony Oliva chiding choosy hitters from behind the cage, saying, "No take-a, take-a, take-a. If I could see it, I swung at it."

You could see the effects of more than $1 million in upgrades to Hammond Stadium and the Twins' minor league facility, from new seats and lights to more shaded areas for fans. You could hear Mike Redmond cheerleading for his buddy Nick Punto every time Punto made a fielding play, and see Kelly and his longtime friend Rick Stelmaszek, who has recovered from a stroke that nearly killed him, sitting on the bench on the far practice field, organizing a practice together for the 30th year in a row.

On Saturday, Oliva, Rod Carew, Paul Molitor, Terry Steinbach and Kelly worked with 20-somethings who might never make it to Class AA. "That's what gets me excited," Kelly said. "It's exciting, to me, to see a player go out early to take some extra grounders. And sometimes it's not the young ones -- it's the veteran, the guy who probably doesn't necessarily have to do that."

The day began with Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer taking the first swings in the batting cage and ended with the usual riposte from Kelly's successor, Ron Gardenhire, who was asked to name the most rubber-armed pitcher he'd ever seen.

Gardenhire immediately said, "Gumby."

We probably wouldn't have gotten that answer from Bill Belichick. At spring training, there is time to appreciate humor, and dew on the morning grass.

Jim Souhan can be heard Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon on AM-1500 KSTP. • jsouhan@startribune.com