COMMENT: America's pastime returns

For months, newsstands and magazine racks have been offering insight into all 750 active players in Major League Baseball.

Across the country, MLB fans have been combing through stats and researching players ever since Spring Training began in preparation for their upcoming Fantasy Baseball Drafts.

I am a huge fan of Fantasy Football, but it’s an entirely different ballgame when it comes to Fantasy Baseball. I played Fantasy Baseball for the first time a few years ago, and after drafting what seemed like a million players, I was ready to go.

But after about two weeks of having to update my lineup every day, I soon began to lose interest. The only problem was I still had some 24 weeks to go — not including the playoffs.

It was the longest MLB season ever.

So as you can imagine, I graciously gave up my spot in the draft the following year and have every year since.

And now that I don’t have to worry about rosters, lineups and starting rotations, I can sit back and enjoy America’s favorite pastime. The MLB regular season officially begins tomorrow night when the Tampa Bay Rays host the Baltimore Orioles. Of course, I’ll be rooting for the home team, and I’m eager to see Manny Ramirez, whom I watched countless times growing up in Ohio, take the field in a Rays uniform.

The roster may be different this year with fan favorites Carl Crawford and Carlos Peña off to Boston and pitcher Matt Garza now in Chicago; but the combination of Evan Longoria and David Price, rising stars Reid Brignac and Ben Zobrist and the additions of Ramirez and Johnny Damon could prove to be a well-balanced enough combination to put the Rays in position to once again be a contender in the American League East behind league favorites Boston and New York.