[jmcclain19]

Every February, hope springs eternal and major league players return to the ballfields in Arizona & Florida to report for Spring Training.

Unfortunately, one of the rites of spring is also cliched sports reporting & those same ballplayers using the same repeated lines about how they changed their batting stance, lost weight or are in the best shape of their life.

In a humorous exercise, I'm going to do my best to keep track of how often this idea - how great of shape the player is in - is repeated by different players & recited in the media this spring training.

This thread is part I - "I'm in the best shape of my life"