"Choo and Marte in the lineup, with Sowers pitching.  The future is tonight!"

That was the first entry in last night's Game Thread, posted by Mark.  I think we all shared his sense of breathlessness and relief, anticipating a new wave of talented young players taking the field at the Jake.  Starting last night, Indians games begin to feel like an extremely long Spring Training for the 2007 season.  The relief comes from the sudden sense that the 2006 season is no longer actually happening.

(I actually missed all the fun.  All I did was watch Adam Miller more or less dominate the Yankees' farm team in Trenton, in a performance that was both conventionally gemmy -- 1 ER over 7.2 IP -- and peripheralicious -- 11 K's and one walk.  More about that game in a Diary.)

For now, let's revel a bit in the new guys.  Here are four very different pieces about the players:

• MLB.com's Jim Molony introduces us to the BLC
• Baseball America's Chris Kline interviews Jeremy Sowers
• The Plain Dealer's Bart Graeff flops himself completely onto the Super Joe bandwagon
• And last but certainly not least, Beyond the Box Score's Marc Normandin breaks down Marte vs. Boone statistically and forecasts what it all means for the Indians.