Spring Training: Day 1 in the books

It's here! It's here! Pitchers and catchers reported to spring training in Peoria today, which means there are finally actual baseball things to talk about! We're still thirteen days away from the annual charity game against the hated Mariners, but this is a step in the right direction.

The most important thing we learned today is a fascinating tidbit about new closer and pantomime archer Fernando Rodney.

Dennis unfortunately did not provide any audio. As delightful as his Muppet impression sounds, the really good news is that Rodney threw today, so concerns about his early exit from the Caribbean Series seem minimal.

But just because other players didn't have to show up today, many did. The most noticeable early arrival was Matt Kemp, who joined his teammates and new bench coach Mark McGwire for some batting practice.

And to wrap things up, the Padres had one more new equipment reveal: A sweet matte-finished helmet (that will hopefully appear in brown shortly).