Back in the day , on the first full day of spring training, the door of the Marchant Stadium clubhouse would burst open and the players would charge out to take a ceremonial lap around the field.
        Then all 40 or 50 of them would spend the next week standing around on one diamond with one pitching mound and one batter’s box, wasting time watching one another work.
        On Wednesday, the Tigers used all six diamonds and eight bullpen mounds in their adjacent minor league training complex to get a lot more work done in a much more timely and efficient manner.
        Why nobody ever thought of doing that back in the 1960s or ‘70s is mind boggling to me.
        That isn’t the only thing about spring training that has changed over the years.
        Players used to show up out of shape after the winter layoff and use the first few weeks to sweat off added pounds. That, in fact, was why spring training was first created more than a century ago.
        Now players work out all winter, many with their personal trainers, and report to camp ready to compete.
        When Sparky Anderson managed the Tigers, he regularly dined at Mario’s, the nicest Italian restaurant in Lakeland. Sparky had his own corner table where his photo, and those of other Tiger dignitaries, adorned the nearby walls.
        Now Jim Leyland sometimes eats at Olive Garden and nobody even knows he is there.