Hello again from spring training.

Spring training is always such a great time of year. It's the time where every team has a fresh start and comes in with high hopes for the upcoming season. I took the first couple weeks here to really work on my swing and get my hitting down. Almost two weeks to the day, things really started clicking and I had several productive days in a row. Now my timing feels great and I feel like I'm ready to go.

And then there's the golf. Being in Florida, there are some of the best golf courses around. Since we have early afternoon games most days, I've been able to get up in the morning, workout and get ready, play the game, and still manage to fit some golf in a few days a week.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to play with my former teammate John Smoltz and Tiger Woods. In fact, it's sort of become our spring training ritual, to all get together and play at least once during the spring. It is a pretty cool experience to get out there with an incredible athlete like Tiger, but I think I was able show him a thing or two.

Another great thing about spring training is being in Orlando. Not only do the Braves get to play in one of the nicest facilities in the Grapefruit League, but we're literally stationed right on the Walt Disney World property at Disney's Wide World of Sports. It's especially fun for all of the players who have kids. But even though my wife Catie and I don't have any kids yet, we've gone to the theme parks a few times to act like kids and ride the rides ourselves.

For those of you who don't know, there are currently 17 Major League Baseball teams who train in Florida, called the Grapefruit League, and 13 teams who train in Arizona, called the Cactus League. Orlando, where the Braves are located, is the furthest north location of all the Grapefruit teams. And unlike the teams in Arizona, our teams are spread out all across central and south Florida.

Because of the space between all of us, we do a lot of traveling on the road (instead of flying) this time of year. It takes us all back to our days in the minor leagues, where we travelled everywhere on busses and always wished we could just hop on a Delta flight. But that's part of your rite of passage. Luckily, the farthest destination we travel during spring training is to the Cardinals and Mets facility down in Jupiter, which is less than a three hour bus ride.

When we have been at home in Orlando and not out on the road, Catie and I have had a lot of family in town to visit. They've literally taken Delta flights in from all over the country to come see us. It has mostly been Catie's family so far, but my parents are coming down this week and I can't wait to see them. Also, my agent Molly Fletcher from Career Sports & Entertainment flies down from Atlanta often and we all get to spend time together.

Overall, it's been an exciting spring, but I can't wait for the season to start in next week. But until then, we've got a couple big games coming up this Saturday with the Yankees, and Red Sox, so I'm going to focus in on that for now.