‘Let the games begin’ at MLB’s Spring Training

Cries of “Play Ball” warmed the hearts of Major League Baseball fans on Friday as big league teams squared off for the first time in 2017 on Spring Training diamonds in Arizona and Florida.

Game action is starting a week earlier than usual to make room for this year’s edition of the 16-team World Baseball Classic, a welcomed early thaw for those eager to shake the winter doldrums with a return of the Summer Game.

The Boston Red Sox, who added hard-throwing lefty Chris Sale this offseason to a sterling starting rotation, hosted the New York Mets in a meeting of championship contenders in one of Florida’s four Grapefruit League contests.

Arizona’s Cactus League schedule opened with the Cincinnati Reds visiting the San Francisco Giants, before a full schedule of games on Saturday.

Hope springs eternal for all clubs at this time of year, with young prospects training alongside seasoned veterans for five weeks of fine-tuning ahead of the 162-game, six-month regular season that opens on April 2.

Spring Training provides a taste of what is to come and a hint about some question marks hanging over contending teams.

Twenty-nine teams will set their sights on dethroning the World Series champion Chicago Cubs, who waited 108 years before claiming the crown for the first time since 1908 with a Game Seven victory over the Cleveland Indians.

The Cubs will try to end another record drought this season by winning again, as it has been an MLB record 16 con-secutive years withouta repeat champion.