Getting there at 8 a.m. means you're running late. Clanks and grunts already are audible from the weight room.
Coaches mill about.
Sitting on stools or stretched out on the floor, players sip coffee, work crosswords, stretching the dressing process into an hour of camaraderie, concentration and conversation. For the visitor, it's prime time to get a handle on the camp. It's fun to watch his ball move. Between a couple of back fields in Sarasota, Fla., a line of four pitchers was throwing in what amounts to a double-wide bullpen. The ball was dancing, hopping.