This column originally ran in The Standard-Times on March 11, 2005.

By Nick Tavares

If you the reader are an avid viewer of ESPN SportsCenter, you might've been as confused as I was this week.

Apparently, Jason Giambi had a decent game against the Red Sox, hitting a home run against John Halama.

To paraphrase, Jason Giambi silenced the Boston crowd with a mammoth home run in Monday's game at Fort Myers, Fla., and later captured the World Series trophy, cured cancer and signed a world peace accord.

OK, so I made some of that up, but the insanity that has surrounded spring training this year is hard to avoid.

I know everything has more coverage now than it did 10 years ago. Ten years ago, there were only two ESPNs and the Internet was still a fad.

So now that there's more airtime and space to fill, stories like these Giambi hitting a homer in spring training while seven fans chant "Steroids!" becomes breaking news.

There are real spring training stories, though. The timetable of Wade Miller's return and debut with Boston, the status of Barry Bonds knee, the progress of the Nationals ... these are all legitimate stories.

Giambi answers, Boston boos is not.

It's not a story because nothing has been answered. Halama didn't lose any sleep over giving up that homer, because spring training games are not real games. They're exhibitions, warm-ups, workouts, whatever.

For example: Who tied David Ortiz for the Red Sox team lead in home runs last spring? Manny Ramirez? Nope. Sluggin' David McCarty, to go with his two innings pitched.

But this seems to be forgotten every year. This week, Randy Johnson made his debut with the Yankees against the Atlanta Braves; he threw two innings, gave up a two-run home run to Chipper Jones and called it a night. This was worthy of being the biggest sports story of the day.

The more important story -- Johnson's much-discussed calf muscle -- wasn't the topic of conversation, his actual performance was.

Pitchers who will have a guaranteed spot on the roster are not pitching for performance, they're pitching for themselves, to work out what they feel they need work on. If David Wells goes out tomorrow, throws nothing but sliders and gives up nine runs in two innings, it doesn't mean anything.

The thing is, I really like spring training. It's relaxing and a decent way to spend an afternoon. I like watching players run sprints in the outfield in the middle of a game. I like seeing players out of position, such as Kevin Youkilis at first base or Mark Bellhorn at shortstop.

Am I particularly excited at watching Adam Hyzdu play center field or Shawn Wooten behind the plate? Not really. In fact, I often find myself tuning out in the late innings of spring games, regardless of the score.

But the reason I watch these games is because I love baseball. It's been about five months since the last season ended, and I really do miss sitting down on a Saturday and taking in a game -- any game. It's a reminder that winter doesn't last forever, that summer is around the corner, and that by the time the real games start, it might not be snowing anymore.

Whether or not Edgar Renteria has an average above .300 in March doesn't resonate a whole lot with me, or if Matt Clement's ERA ends up being on the high side of 7.00.

On Opening Day, Giambi can really silence his critics if he wants, Yankee fans can really worry about Randy Johnson, and Red Sox fans can go back to being paranoid.

Until then, just sit back, relax, and remember for this month, it really is just a game.

Nick Tavares is a columnist for The Standard-Times. E-mail him at ntavares@s-t.com.

This story appeared on Page C1 of The Standard-Times on March 11, 2005.