That's right, sports fans. After a long, cold winter, the 2007 baseball season is just around the corner!

While many of you this time of year are watching the madness of 19 year-olds tossing balls at hoops, I'm spending my time examining Oakland A's box scores, listening to webcasts of Spring Training games, participating in Fantasy Baseball drafts (team name: Renewable Synergy), and, most importantly, keeping track of the latest efforts by Major League Baseball and its teams to "go green".

There's plenty of good eco-news coming from Major League front offices lately. Just last week, the San Francisco Giants announced that they're becoming the first team to install solar panels at their ballpark. (Our very own Senior Editorial Correspondent Jeff McIntire-Strasburg wrote about it at Treehugger, too.) Best of all, the Giants are installing the panels on the port walk by McCovey Cove, so every time Barry Bonds launches one of his signature "Splash Hit" home runs, the panels will be prominently displayed on Bay Area television and nationwide on highlight shows. If Barry himself really wants to help the cause, I'd suggest that he do his best to break Hank Aaron's home run record during a home game. If he did, the panels would become a big part of baseball history when the upper deck camera pans from home plate toward the water beyond the right field wall. Just make sure to pull it, Barry.

Other teams are showing some earth love, too. The Washington Nationals and Minnesota Twins are in a race to become the first team with a LEED Certified stadium. In seeking LEED recognition from the United States Green Building Council, the teams are planning to minimize and filter waste streams, design for energy efficiency, incorporate public transportation considerations into their planning, and take dozens of other eco-conscious steps.

The New York Yankees have hired the one of the same architectural firms as the Nationals (HOK) for the new Yankee Stadium project, though the Yankees haven't yet announced any plans to go green in the Bronx. They are the Evil Empire, so I'm not holding my breath. (Sorry, I'm still not over Game 3 of the 2001 playoffs. Where did Jeter come from!? Slide, Jeremy. Slide!)

There's also good news for those of us who choose to leave meat out of our plates: there's stuff for us to eat at the ballpark! Just a few years ago, we were stuck with peanuts and Crackerjacks at most stadiums. Now, you can get a veggie dog or veggie burger almost anywhere, and at the best venues, the selection is even much more exotic than that. When PETA ranked the top 10 veg-friendly ballparks last year, the Giants stole the show with such offerings as grilled vegetable kebabs, grilled veggie baguettes, and vegetarian sushi. My A's were ranked fourth, though I was disappointed when I walked into the Coliseum last April and discovered the Black Muslim Bakery no longer had their booth with lots of yummy vegan food behind home plate. The Yankees? Not on the list. They didn't even get an honorable mention. Figures. They must not have room for vegetables in their budget what with their $9 billion payroll and all.

For greeniac baseball fans, the hits just keep on coming. There are advanced recycling and waste reduction programs already in place at several stadiums, my forward-thinking Oakland A's became the first team to sell adult beverages in compostable, cornstarch-based cups, and Major League Baseball has formed a partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council to help the league green its act.

I know there are lots of other green initiatives being implemented stadiums all across the country. What have you seen at your local ballpark? What changes would you like to see?

See you at the ballpark. Enjoy the season, everyone! (Yankees fans not included.)