JUPITER, Fla. -- It was in early January, not long after Dexter Fowler had received full medical clearance to reengage in baseball activities, that he sent video of his swing to longtime mentor Barry Bonds.
The two, connected some six years earlier by mutual friend Glenallen Hill, had already been conversing regularly throughout the offseason -- sometimes on the phone, other times via video chat. The latter allowed Bonds to stand up and demonstrate as he spoke.
Occasionally, Fowler noted, the conversations lasted for hours.
This one, though, still resonates, not for its duration, but rather the substance.