Ah, another sign that spring is indeed coming... groundhog be damned:
XM will start airing Major League Baseball spring training games, starting tomorrow, February 27th.

XM will air over 100 spring training games during the pre-season period leading up to the official start of the 2008 MLB season on March 30th.

On top of the games, MLB Home Plate (ch 175) has the latest reports from the spring training camps in Arizona and Florida.

Follow the jump for a schedule for spring training games on XM through Sunday, March 2nd (schedule is subject to change), or check out a weekly schedule of spring training games on XM's website.

Take that groundhog.
 

Like many, I was mighty skeptical of the prospects of "golf on the radio" back when XM signed with the PGA in 2005.

But XM put a lot of effort into the relationship - offering up 1,000 XM radios for spectators to use throughout the day at the tournaments. They even launched a humorous TV commercial to celebrate the partnership. Still, I'll admit, I was a skeptic.

Fast forward to today.

XM Satellite Radio just recently signed a multiyear extension of their agreement with the PGA Tour. That original four-year agreement between XM and the PGA was set to expire at the end of this year.

Turns out, the PGA Tour Network (ch 146) is quite the hit.

According to the PGA Tour, the channel draws an audience in the range of 460,000 to 2 million listeners, for an average of about 1 million. Ad sales for the channel are solid, which is reportedly one of the reasons why XM was inclined to renew the deal.

"There were a lot of skeptics about this venture, and I'm not just talking internally," Eric Logan, Executive VP at XM, told Washington Business Journal. "I don't think many people thought it had a chance of getting launched, and now that we're renewing it, the same skeptics are like, 'Huh, must be working.'"

Chalk me up as one of those skeptics who's dumbfounded.

It's a testament to the passion (ok fine, obsession) of golf fans, and to XM's hiring of veteran sportscasters who know how to "paint the picture" for the listener.

As the winter cold grips the land, there is one sure sign that spring is in the air: Pitchers and catchers are reporting for spring training this week, and XM’s MLB Home Plate (ch 175) is there.

MLB Home Plate’s Joe Castellano will report from Arizona, while Holden Kushner delivers the news from Florida. Castellano is planning to kick off XM’s coverage in Mesa, Arizona, at the Chicago Cubs’ camp on Thursday, February 14th. Kushner will open in Clearwater, Florida., with the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, February 16th.

Meanwhile back in Washington DC, the MLB Home Plate team is covering this week’s other big baseball story: the congressional hearing on steroid use in baseball, taking place exactly two months after the Mitchell Report was released.

UPDATE: Today’s congressional hearing is now playing on a continuous loop on XM channel 176. It will continue to run through Friday at 1pm ET.