FOR LOVE OF THE GAME:

Baseball on the brain

Sam Morris

Spring Valley senior pitcher German Barajas throws during an intrasquad scrimmage.

Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008 | 2 a.m.

In spring, a young man’s thoughts turn to ...

Sorry, Tennyson, but in the United States, it’s baseball.

Although technically it’s not yet spring, pitchers and catchers have reported, Cubs fans’ weary hearts are filled yet again with hope and high school baseball starts next week. And those games can’t come soon enough for German Barajas.

“I work hard all fall and winter and then I get excited around this time of the year with only a couple days left until the opening game,” said the 6-foot-4 Spring Valley senior.

With that kind of size, you might expect to find Barajas on a football field or basketball court. But he says: “Baseball, it’s all baseball. It’s a different game, more of a thinking game.”

A pitcher who also plays the corners, Barajas appreciates the more visceral aspects of the game. “I like being able to see the ball, the feeling you get when you hit the sweet spot and watching the ball leave the field on a home run,” he said.

And next week he gets the chance to experience that feeling again.

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