Little brown bears and gnats

So baseball season is upon us, with Opening Day only a month away.

So far so good in the Cubs camp, though Mark DeRosa's heart procedure -- he had an irregular heartbeat -- does concern me, even though the team says he'll be back on the field next week. Makes me wonder how long GM Jim Hendry will wait before finally pulling the trigger on getting second baseman Brian Roberts from the Orioles. If, of course, owner Peter Angelos signs off on it.

And the Washington Nationals are counting down to the opening of their brand spanking new ballpark. There are still a lot of issues to be resolved -- like traffic, parking and a so far unfinished Navy Yard Metro stop. We have tickets to the exhibition game on March 29 against the Orioles and the opener the following night against the Braves on ESPN.

There could be mayhem.

It's the start of Fantasy season, too. I'm in a league again with my friend K.C. and sister Cheryl. My team name this year is "Got Fuku?" I got the idea from some t-shirts I saw for sale on bleedcubbieblue.com after the Cubs signed Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome.

And if it ever warms up, we might be able to get out on the practice fields for softball.

I guess I need to remember it's still winter.