I can just hear Robin Williams saying this title.  The early post today is for those who have never been to spring training.

Most people come to spring training strictly for the major league games…and miss the best part of the experience, the mornings. The Royals almost always have minor league games scheduled at 10 am or 1 pm on the back fields. Today it was AAA against AA and High A against Low A. This is where you get to watch all the future stars and talk to the people who know baseball from the inside. Plus players and coaches are a lot more sociable and willing to just have a chat.

This morning I ambled over a few minutes before the gates opened. There was a small group of people lining the outfield fences watching batting practice and catching HR balls hit over the fence. Started talking to one person I had spoken to for a few minutes the day before. Today he introduced himself…as Jim Starling…yes, that Jim Starling, father of Bubba.

Jim has filled out a little more than Bubba (the years tend to do that) and wears a mustache, but when they stand side by side, the resemblance is obvious. Jim is a genuinely wonderful man, quiet and genial, even with strangers constantly coming over to talk about Bubba. That included even Dayton Moore who stopped by to mention the curve ball Bubba drove into the gap for a double in his first at bat. It is obvious to any onlookers around the fields that Bubba is the must see item of minor league spring training.

We talked off and on throughout the morning as I switched back and forth between games. I asked Jim if he gets nervous when Bubba plays. He said he was the calm one, it was Bubb’a mother that gets excitable. I suppose I would too if my potential superstar son was on the field.

We talked about the pressures on Bubba with Jim admitting Bubba feels it at times due to all the comparisons to great players of the past like Brett and Rodriguez and even Mantle. I told Jim as I have told everyone on the Royals web site; I don’t like  comparisons. I just want Bubba to be Bubba and make his own name. My hope would be that someday people say this kid looks a lot like a young Bubba Starling. That will be the best comparison of all.

We also talked about the other pressures of today with Facebook and Twitter accounts and the media constantly following your every move. High profile players like Bubba find it tough to have a personal life because of the hype. Bubba already had a taste of that last winter when he was stopped for underage drinking and it made all the KC papers. Sadly, type Bubba Starling into an internet search engine and references to the incident still come up as often as his athletic references. Anyone else in the lower minor leagues would not have even rated a mention, but because this is the $7.5M kid, it is news.

One thing I do know though, if Bubba has Jim’s genuine attitude and common sense, I am sure he will be just fine. Bubba should be very proud of his father, for in the short time I got to know Jim, I found him a true gentleman who knows how to separate fame from real life.

I also spent some time with Kevin Kousmanoff, assigned to minor league camp yesterday. He is another person for which I gained immediate respect. Kous is headed to Omaha early next week where he will continue his recovery from injury and await the call from Dayton Moore that he is headed to KC or another major league team. I truly hope that call gets made because Kevin is another person that brings the game respect and he deserves another shot at the Show.

Aaron Brooks, who I talked to for quite a while on Wednesday, pitched today in the High A/Low A game. He is one of the myriad of young hopefuls playing out the final days of spring training. He threw at least two solid innings that I saw and I was proud for him even though he is no relation to me. I will follow Aaron this summer as he pitches at Kane County and wish him all the best. I hope we see him in a real KC Royals uniform one day.

One other person who impressed me this morning. Devon Lowery is one of those faceless minor league coaches out to teach his kids and help them climb the minor league ladder. A 2001 Royals draft pick, Lowery actually pitched 5 games in the majors in September 2008. He is now a minor league coach for the Royals even though he is only 29, his arm physically unable to keep up with his mental energy.

Lowery never sits still, contstantly walking over to check pitch counts and locations, encouraging his pitchers on the field or pulling them aside to review their innings as they come off. He grabbed Aaron after each inning and I could overhear them reviewing Aaron’s pitches and how to read batters’ intent and use that against them.

Lowery definitely impressed me in the short time I watched him. I found an article on him on the net that said his goal is to be a pitching coach in the majors one day. He get’s my vote already.

The funniest moment of the morning was my question for Dave Eiland, Royals pitching coach. In spring training games the coaches all sit on folding chairs outside the dugout with their backs to the stands. My question to Dave was, “What is the strangest conversation you have heard from behind you?”

He said I would not believe some of the things that get discussed in the stands with people unaware they can be heard by the coaches sitting just the other side of the open wire. He also said he eventually learned to just tune it out. I can understand why because I heard a couple of conversations the other day at Scottsdale Stadium I wish I could have just tuned out. They definitely should not have been aired in public.

Oh and by the way, did I mention Mendoza and Montgomery fought to a 1-1 standoff in 6 innings of the AAA-AA game today. Mendoza is just so smooth pitching now as compared to 2 years ago. The run he gave up was helped by a bouncer to short that took  an odd hop way over the shortstop’s head. Monty also looked nothing like the bad reports from last year and earlier in ST. His curve was especially nasty all day. Maybe a good sign as he might be needed in the next two months with all the games in a short time span, the Royals only getting 4 off days in the first 51 or so.

Finally, today was also a day of partings as I noticed or overheard several players saying goodbye to their families. Talking to a few after the game, I learned some are staying around for extended spring training but most will travel north or east tomorrow to join teams for the summer.

The players will be heading to Omaha, NW Arkansas, Wilmington or even Idaho Falls while families go back to where the players grew up or now live. Being apart from family is never fun especially when these partings in some cases last for months. I felt for the players and especially the small children that had to say those goodbyes.

That is my story behind the story for today. Kids playing ball, parents and loved ones watching them, the hanger’s on (easy to spot), and the rest of us just there to enjoy some good baseball in the Arizona sun. So the next time you schedule a trip to Phoenix for spring training, don’t just go to the big league games. Get yourself over to Surprise by 10 am every morning. You will find it far more entertaining and a whole lot more fun.