LAKELAND, Fla. – Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler had butterflies in his stomach as he flew from Dallas to Florida for the start of spring training.
“I was literally on the airplane, trying to breathe to get rid of butterflies,” Kinsler said Tuesday morning before the first full-squad practice. “I couldn’t get rid of them.”
Some of it was nerves: Did he do enough to prepare? Did he work hard enough? “That’s always in the back of your mind, regardless of how hard you worked,” he said.
And some of it was fear of being “the weak link” on this team.