It’s that time of year again, folks.

That’s right, late February brings a lot to the world of sports—the SI Swimsuit Issue, NBA wheeling and dealing, “bubble” speculation, the SI Swimsuit Issue, fantasy baseball chatter, the SI Swimsuit Issue—but few moments leave an impression like this.

This has been with us for years. Before it happened to you, it happened to your dad. It happened to your granddad.

It’s the time you’re browsing the net—your dad checked the paper—on a cold, gloomy day and your mind wanders to baseball. “I wonder when the colleges start playing,” you think, shivering in the darkness.

Letting curiosity take hold, you look it up. A couple of weeks? Next month?

Then it hits you like a cement truck.

The University of Texas is 12-2.

You start to feel dizzy. “I don’t understand,” you say to yourself, feeling your cold sweat gradually freeze. Maybe this is the wrong year. The wrong sport. Maybe that 12-2 is a typo.

But your eyes scan the rest of the page. Arizona State is already 9-2. “It can’t be!” you say. Cal State Fullerton is 6-7. Stanford? A nice, tidy 10-2.

You’re gasping for air. Florida State? Give me 7 wins and 3 losses. Arizona? Ring up 5-4-1. Florida Atlantic?

Show them what they’ve won—10 games without a loss!

Your confusion gives way to envy, then self-pity. The numbers don’t lie. Baseball has reached the Sunbelt, MLB pitchers and catchers reported last week and your weatherbug reads “28 degrees.”

But then the voice of reason comes to you like a warm breeze. Here’s why.

For one, way before baseball is ready for Harvard, Harvard will be ready for baseball. Sure, the air temperature may be about 15 degrees too cold for the warning level on an average Omaha XS CB404 nitrogen-packed scandium bat—watch out for possible WMDs, people. And sure, sunflower seeds may be out of season.

But the Crimson baseball team has been practicing, competing with track, ultimate Frisbee and soccer for control of the Gordon Track and Field Center, while two JV baseball players were recently seen throwing a ball inside a nearby squash court.