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May 19, 2013 | 07:46 am

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Photo Gallery: Spring Training 2012 winds down

Looking back as the 2012 Spring Training schedule nears its close, and waiting to again hear those annual words of wonder when the calendar turns to 2013: Pitchers and catchers report.

Images

Spring Training 2012

Working it: Brothers Charlie and Christian Pelle and Corey and Ryan Sanchez of California start working a baseball up through the fence at Tempe Diablo Stadium. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Getting ready: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman Albert Pujols stretches before a game against the Texas Rangers at Tempe Diablo Stadium on Sunday, March 25, 2012. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Having fun: San Francisco Giants fan Laura Chinn gets another autograph from one of the Giants rookies at Scottsdale's Indian School Park during the 2012 spring training season. Chinn, an avid Giants fan who closely follows the Giants' Minor League teams, knew most of the players by name. "It's very fun," Chinn said of getting their signatures. It's hard to get information on them as they don't have much about the team or the players - they don't have much in the newspaper about them or on TV. When I come to spring training, I get to match a face to a name. It's kinda cool." [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

A sign of excellence: The Cincinnati Reds honor former shortstop Barry Larkin, a recent selection to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Larkin will be inducted into the Hall this summer. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Clearing the basepaths: A grounds crew Tempe Diablo Stadium sweeps the basepaths, Sunday, March 25, 2012. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Twins Benjamin and Ethan Mitchell of Ladera Ranch, Calif. enjoy their first baseball game at Tempe Diablo Stadium on Sunday, March 25, 2012. The brothers who are 3 and a half, each hold a baseball hoping for an autograph or two as their father, Peter Mitchell looks on. The Mitchells were in the East Valley visiting family in Gilbert. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Josh Hamilton standing on first base for the Texas Rangers. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Mike Sakal/ Tribune

Spring Training 2012

Spring Training 2012.Here come the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Goodyear Stadium vs. the Cincinnati Reds. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

The $254 million man - Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Spring in the spring time: Former Major League pitcher Jack Spring signs a book for a fan outside Camelback Ranch where Spring and his family members from Spokane, Wash. watched the Seattle Mariners play the Chicago White Sox. Spring, 79, was a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs in 1964 when he became a player involved in one of the most talked about trades in baseball history: He and Lou Brock were traded to the St. Louis Cardinals as part of a deal that brought pitcher Ernie Broglio to the Cubs. Being part of an answer to a trivia question over which players were traded with Lou Brock, Spring as-a-matter-of-factly said, "I was the main one traded. Lou Brock was just the other guy." [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Game over: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman Albert Pujols leaving the field after seven innings against the Texas Rangers, March 25, 2012. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Carson McKinney, 8, and his mother, Angelique, of Temecula, Calif. watch players warm up for the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Goodyear Stadium. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto puts a tag on a runner the pitcher wants to keep in check. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Around the horn: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman Albert Pujols. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman Albert Pujols. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Getting a smile out: Cincinnati Reds Manager Dusty Baker scans the field before a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Goodyear Stadium. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Going full gorilla: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Manager Mike Scioscia signs a baseball for a fan at Tempe Diablo Stadium before a game against the Texas Rangers on Sunday, March 25, 2012. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

At the plate: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman Albert Pujols against the Texas Rangers at Tempe Diablo Stadium on March 25, 2012. Pujols went 1-for-3 for the day, hitting a home run to left field on his first at-bat. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

The perfect gift: Newlyweds Mark and Kristin Gasten of Dallas, Tex. show off their coffee table consisting of 96 dyed red, white and blue baseballs in the configuration of the Texas state flag before a Texas Rangers vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim game at Surprise Stadium on Saturday, March 24, 2012. The coffee table was a wedding gift from Mark's sister and brother-in-law when the couple got married in January. The Gastens, who were in town to see the Rangers and visit with Kristin's grandmother Diane Phinney of Surprise, hope to get each of the baseballs autographed by a Rangers player. "It's probably one of the best wedding gifts ever," Kristin said. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Trying it out: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman looks over his bat in the dugout at Tempe Diablo Stadium before a game against the Texas Rangers on Sunday, March 25. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Adding them up: San Francisco Giants fan Lauren Chinn of San Francisco placing name stickers near the signatures of the near 100 autographs of Giants' rookies she acquired at Scottsdale's Indian School Park. Chinn, a student at the University of San Francisco who plans to be a math teacher, was nearing the end of a four-day spring training trip to Scottsdale. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Within reach: Two sets of brothers, Charlie Pelle, 8, Christian Pelle, 5, of Yorba Linda, Calif., and Corey Sanchez, 7, and Ryan Sanchez, 10, of Norco, Calif., get their hands on a baseball on one of the practice fields at Tempe Diablo Stadium where the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are training. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

No hot dog: Texas Rangers right hander Mark Hamburger on the mound at Tempe Diablo Stadium on Sunday, March 25, 2012. Hamburger landed on the baseball scene after an open tryout with the Minnesota Twins in 2007 - a tryout he almost was late for with a friend he talked into coming with him, he said, just to see "if I can make it." After throwing pitches consistently at 93 mph, Hamburger caught the attention of scouts and signed for a $1,200 bonus. He came to the Rangers from the Twins in August, 2008, and the rest is history. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

A blast from the past: Former Cincinnati Reds pitching great Jim Maloney (46) standing next to Reds Manager Dusty Baker at Goodyear Stadium. Maloney, 71, who is a special instructor for the Reds during spring training,. was considered the "Nolan Ryan" of his day during the 1960s. Maloney tossed three no-hitters - one of which went into extra innings before he lost. Maloney also pitched several one-hitters during a 13-year career. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Oh No! Not again! Back to Square 1. Brothers Corey and Ryan Sanchez and Charlie Pelle reach out for the ball after one of the boys dropped it as they were trying to get it up the fence at Tempe Diablo Stadium where the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were practicing. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Grand entrance: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman Albert Pujols taking the field at Tempe Diablo Stadium, March 25, 2012. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Trying to keep a hand on it: Brothers Ryan and Corey Sanchez and Christian and Charlie Pelle pass a ball up the fence hoping for a souvenir at Tempe Diablo Stadium. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

A great one to get: Hall of Fame pitching legend and Texas Rangers owner Nolan Ryan autographs one of the baseballs inside a coffee table dyed red, white and blue and in the configuration of the Texas state flag for newlyweds Mark and Kristin Gasten of Dallas, Tex. before a Rangers vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim game at Surprise Stadium on March 24, 2012. The Gastens received the coffee table as a gift from Mark's sister and brother-in-law. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Mike Sakal/ Tribune

Spring Training 2012

Spring Training 2012. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

Artist Kyle Morrisey of Orange County standing behind his canvas paintings of Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim players at Tempe Diablo Stadium on Sunday, March 25, 2012. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]

Spring Training 2012

A closer look: Jordan Garrison, 5, from the Los Angeles area, watches Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim players practice at Goodyear Stadium before a game against the Cincinnati Reds. [Mike Sakal/ Tribune]