BRADENTON, Fla. -- Starling Marte got a new glove.
Tony Watson got a new child.
A.J. Burnett got a new chance to be with his old team.
Kent Tekulve got a new heart and, as the rebounding Rubberband Man put it through a smile as bright as the endless, sunny skies over Pirate City, "I'm in the bonus round."
Optimists say that hope springs eternal, but everyone agrees that spring gives birth to new beginnings. It's a fresh start, or at least a fresh restart, of the life cycle.
And baseball being borderline synonymous with life for we Americans over the past century-plus, it follows the seasonal cycle better than any sport anywhere.
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