Yes, the Grapefruit League is a little different from the Cactus League, both to cover and to play in. All you have to know about the difference is this:

To show the layout of all the camps in the two locations, MLB’s Spring Training Media Guide has a map of Phoenix … and a map of Florida.

It’s the Grapefruit “Are We There Yet?” League.

* * *

I got a clarification of the proper way to pronounce young left-hander Joely Rodriguez’s first name: Hard “J” and neither vowel is silent.

So turns out years ago Rickie Lee Jones sang about him … “Jolie, Jolie … all I want you to do is just be happy.”

If Joely keeps pitching as he has been, both he and Clint Hurdle will be happy.

* * *

Before today’s game in Lakeland, Hurdle spent some time behind the batting cage with Jim Leyland, as usual.

Except, this time Leyland was not in uniform and was not about to manage the Tigers against the Pirates. And Hurdle had never seen the former Buccos skipper happier.

“He’s happy. He’s in a good place,” Hurdle said. “That man worked his backside off for 50-some years, he deserves to be happy, he deserves to catch his breath. He’s enjoying what he’s doing [consulting for the Tigers and their new manager, Brad Ausmus] and what he’s getting into, so good for him.

“He looks good. Of course, I was told the same thing in September ’09 [when Hurdle was unemployed, having been fired by the Rockies], how good I looked. Makes you want to ask, ‘Well, how did I use to look?'”

I was able to share with Bill Virdon — a regular at camp — a cool nugget from the Red Sox notes for today’s Grapefruit League game with the Bucs:

When John Farrell led the Sox to a 97-65 record last season, he became the first manager in his first year with a team to at least tie for the Majors’ best record (the Cardinals also had 97 regular-season wins) since … Virdon with the 1972 Bucs.

Virdon’s reaction?

“Thanks for letting me know that … but did I have more wins than he did?”

Sorry, Quail — your ’72 Pirates only did 96-59. But you did have the better winning percentage — .619 to Farrell’s .599 — in a schedule shorted to 155 games by a brief players’ strike.

* * *

Another former Pirates skipper was known as Harry (The Hat) Walker.

I’m not sure why he was called that — as one story goes, it came from his habit of constantly adjusting his cap during at-bats, but then why wouldn’t he have been known as Harry (The Cap) Walker?

Anyway, apparently there is some guy in Pirates camp channeling Harry Walker. I’ve become known as Tom (The Hat) Singer. Must be because when I shopped for a lid to shield me from the hot Florida sun, this is the best I could come up with:

All these athletes getting into various degrees of hot water for their use of Twitter ought to take lessons from Tony Sanchez.

The catcher is easily the Pirates’ busiest tweeter, and he does it with an amazing and impressive amount of restraint (not to mention, a large dose of welcomed humor). You’d be stunned at the level of direct abuse he gets from people dissatisfied with his progress since the Bucs made him their No. 1 Draft pick in 2009 — and he responds to it tactfully, tastefully and with reserve.

I don’t think I could do it.

* * *

Cardinals GM John Mozeliak irritated David Freese, at the time of his trade to the Angels, by wondering whether he might have found it too tough to play for his hometown team.

“Growing up in St. Louis, this could not have been the easiest place to play,” Mozeliak had told reporters. “I do think he may be looking forward to a fresh start. This was not an easy year for him.”

Freese resented the implication he couldn’t handle the hometown heat. But there is heat. Take it from Neil Walker, the one Pirates player who can relate to the situation.

“It can be a burden,” The Pittsburgh Kid said during a “Conversation” with me. “Fortunately, I’ve been groomed for that from Day One, getting Drafted by the Pirates. I’ve learned to deal with it, to know where to focus my energy and my time, making sure priority number one is on the field, helping the team win.”

Be sure to read & see the rest of the “Conversation with Neil Walker,” tomorrow at Pirates.com.

* * *

Zach Thornton gave up that game-tying home run to start the ninth before putting his foot down, but otherwise the big arms in the Bucs’ deep bullpen continued to do their thing in Saturday’s 2-2 tie with the Rays.

Eight relievers held Tampa Bay to that one run in nine innings, while fanning 10.

The early relievers scorecard, through four Grapefruit League games (not including starting pitchers who have worked in relief, such as Jeff Locke and Edinson Volquez): 32 1/3 innings, five earned runs, 26 whiffs.

Only in Spring Training:

The travel squad the Yankees brought to McKechnie Field was so heavy with young prospects, the uniform numbers of their starting lineup averaged 66. Going with their regulars, the Pirates lineup averaged 27.

DH Andrew Lambo was high man for the Bucs, No. 57. Six Yankees starters wore higher numbers than that.

* * *

An item in the Yankees pre-game notes highlighted the fact there are 11 players in their camp 6-foot-4 or taller. Sounded like a challenge, so we checked: The Pirates have 12 in camp 6-foot-4 or taller. So there.

* * *

Joe Shula, who hosts the “Leading Off” talk show on WFBG in the Bucs’ Double-A home, Altoona, had a fascinating guest Wednesday, on multiple levels.

Chuck Goggin is distinguished as the most decorated veteran of the Vietnam War to ever play in the Majors. The Marine was awarded both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star following his 13-month tour of duty in 1966-67.

Goggin, now 68, had a brief big-league career with three teams, playing 72 games and collecting 29 hits, the first with the Pirates on Sept. 30, 1972.

That date should sound familiar. It is the game in which Roberto Clemente got the 3,000th and last hit of his career.

* * *

Bovada, the Las Vegas voice everybody seems to be listening to, lists the over-and-under for wins by the Pirates this season at 83 1/2. So if it all goes as it did last year, the Bucs should have 100 wins: Bovada missed by 16 1/2 a year ago, when it had that line at 77 1/2.

* * *

You can’t make this stuff up:

Of all the raves we’ve heard about Gregory Polanco, the ones that stand out are about his speed. About how he can fly down the baseline in no time and, with those long legs, make it look effortless.

So — in his first competitive at-bat of the spring, in today’s Gold V Black intrasquad game, he tops a ball that dribbles maybe 50 feet up the first base line. And by the time pitcher Joely Rodriguez runs over to try to glove the ball, Polanco has crossed the bag with an infield single.

* * *

Rodriguez, by the way, had batters hitting worm-killers like that throughout his one-inning stint, which included another infield hit. If the Pirates staff loves swing-and-miss stuff, they very much like ground-ball stuff, so keep a longshot eye on Joely.

* * *

You know it’s a low-key squad game when, listed as “extras,” are guys like Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, Starling Marte and Russell Martin. None of them got into the game.

* * *

Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, since the guy obviously has always had power. But, I swear, I’ve never seen the ball fly off Alvarez’s bat as it has this spring in batting practice. He just seems quicker, and is hitting moonshots with the flick of the wrist.

* * *

Ozzie Smith is spearheading a campaign to have baseball’s Opening Day declared a national holiday.

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle thinks it may be unnecessary, if the intent is to enable kids to attend games without playing hooky from school.

“I love Opening Day, and I know my kids are going to be sick that day,” Hurdle said. “They’re going to come down with a bad fever. Bucco Fever.”

* * *

Gift Ngoepe was a late entry in the Blacks’ lineup, taking over for Chase d’Arnaud, who had been designated for assignment to make room for Brent Morel, picked up on waivers from the Blue Jays.

Yes, with Chase gone, that made Ngoepe the Bucs’ going-away Gift.

Sorry.

After several days of watching Gregory Polanco in batting practice, I’m most impressed with how hard he hits the ball when he perfectly squares up on it.

One thing I’d noticed about Andrew McCutchen is his ability to pull a ball so squarely, it does not bend at all. You’ve all seen right-handed hitters pull balls hard that naturally curve foul. But McCutchen can hit a ball so hard, it stays on a straight line. I’ve never seen anyone else able to pull that off (no pun intended).

Well, Polanco can do the same thing, pulling a ball to right. Seeing the ball off the bat, you expect it to curve foul. But it stays straight and true and darts against or over the fence.

If you’re going to be mirror image of someone, Cutch is not a bad reflection to choose.

* * *

A typo in a local newspaper had the Pirates going through “Sprint Training.”

Is that a speed drill? Or, learning how to properly use a cell phone?

* * *

Buccos pitchers aren’t exactly lining up at trainer Todd Tomczyk’s office for those new cap pads available to offer them extra protection from line drives hit back to the box. They find it bulky and awkward.

MLB has approved the use of the paddings, manufactured by 4Licensing Corporation subsidiary isoBlox, but I’ve yet to hear of a pitcher interested in using it. Not even Brandon McCarthy, whose frightening 2011 shelling by a liner actually spawned the R&D leading to the padding’s creation.

* * *

Not Pirates related but — remember when reliever Heath Bell was called into the 2011 All-Star Game in Chase Field, and became an instant fan favorite by taking the mound with a hook slide?

The “slide” has turned out to be prophetic.

In the first half of that season, Bell had converted 26 of 27 save opportunities, and had not allowed a home run in 37 innings, while fashioning a 2.43 ERA.

Since the slide: He has blown 19 of 70 save opportunities, allowed 21 homers in 155 innings, and has an ERA of 4.24.

On Saturday’s workout bill: Middle infielders working on digging throws out of the dirt.

Here’s the cool part: Doing the throwing, burying ball after ball in the dirt in front of the second base bag, was first baseman Gaby Sanchez.

That must have felt like a welcomed bit of revenge for the guy who is usually doing the digging, of infielders’ throws into the dirt.

* * *

The Pirates spent part of Saturday’s workouts on baserunning drills. They did all possible  variations: Home to first, first to third, second to home, and so on.

But, no, they did not practice home run trots. Guess that comes naturally.

* * *

As Edinson Volquez pitched batting practice to Starling Marte and Neil Walker, watching glued behind the batting cage was Frank Coonelly.

The club president must’ve wanted an up-close-and-personal look at the Pirates’ chief free agent signing of the winter.

Asked for a review of Volquez’s work, Coonelly said, “Ball was coming out of his hand nice,” with a nod toward Ray Searage, since that is one of the pitching coach’s pet compliments.

* * *

Buccos players and staff have reached the Camp Fever stage of Spring Training, the point at which they begin to feel the fences of Pirate City closing in on them.

Two more days of workouts, then it’s on to McKechnie Field and, following Tuesday’s Black & Gold game, the start of Grapefruit League play.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter [@Tom_Singer] may recall that a couple of starts into Gerrit Cole’s big-league career, I ran a quickie poll on what his nickname should be. Some of you may have even participated. Cole 45, Cole Slaw, Cole Hand Luke and others got votes.

But the winner was Cole Train, so I went ahead and started calling him that when appropriate. Well, lo and behold, that has taken hold as the youngster’s official nickname.

It has also begun to pop up in posters, license plates and the obligatory tee-shirt.

Hope this one sticks as well as the last nickname for which I was responsible: K-Rod, for Francisco Rodriguez. Although, we hope Cole himself feels better about this one. For whatever reason, Rodriguez was never crazy about that one.

* * *

The Pirates spent a big chunk of Thursday’s workouts on pickoffs and rundowns. Imported to enact the baserunning part where several of their Minor Leaguers. Good experience for them, but also a good way to ensure that, say, Starling Marte doesn’t pull a hammy yo-yoing between first and second.

* * *

Thursday’s temperature at the 1:30 conclusion of the workout: 90 degrees.

Officially warmer than any day during the Bucs’ 2013 Spring Training, remembered for the unusual chill.

We keep hearing that the Bucs have to get off to a hot start, but I don’t think this is what they meant.

* * *

I’m not sure who had the widest smile in Pirate City before and during the workout: Josh Harrison, still beaming over the recent birth of daughter Mia, or Tony Sanchez, in the glow of his Boston College’s basketball upset of No. 1 and undefeated Syracuse the night before.

But I know who had the biggest smile after the workout. Sanchez had a haircut that wiped the smile right off his face.

[T. Sanchez selfie]

Charles Dickens had his “Great Expectations.” So do the Pirates. They will soon fill up their outfield with GAS (Gregory, Andrew, Starling).

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen three burners in one outfield,” said manager Clint Hurdle, anticipating that down-the-road union as much as are fans and media.

Fans and media can’t wait. That threesome was the obvious main attraction Tuesday during the Bucs’ first full-squad workout of Spring Training. Inasmuch as this is Polanco’s first big league camp, the three were on the same field for the first time ever, making it a potentially memorable occasion.

Whether loosening up in the outfield, taking their cuts in the cage or shagging, McCutchen, Marte and Polanco got both amateur and professional photographers snapping.

Polanco is known for getting down the first base line in no time, but his home runs take even less to clear the fence. He pulled several balls out of Pirate City’s No. 1 field, all line drives that disappeared in a hurry.

* * *

McCutchen’s big Spring Training project a year ago was improving his baserunning. He has not revealed Project 2014 but, after one batting practice session, let me hazard a guess: Power?

Cutch drilled ball after ball onto the roof of the indoor workout facility beyond the left-field fence of Field No. 1. 

Hitting with more power would be a sensible goal, since McCutchen did drill 31 homers in 2012 but that total declined to 21 in his MVP season of 2013.

* * *

An elderly fan stood silently behind one of the ropes separating Pirate City’s public quad from the workout fields, holding a sign that simply said in large colorful letters: “THANK YOU.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” the gent asked rhetorically. “It’s for the championship season of last year.”

* * *

Travis Snider will do little more than shag during batting practice for a few days, limited by a three-stitch cut on a left finger suffered while chopping a sweet potato.

That’s right. Baseball’s eminent cook and food lover was knocked out by a potato. Contract clauses mandating that players stay off motorcycles are quite common. Snider’s next contract may require him to stay out of the kitchen.

You fans who routinely mock Major League pitchers for their inability to bunt would be amazed to see how much Spring Training time is spent on that art, particularly in the first week before position players report.

Must be a lot tougher to lay down a heater out of, say, Jeff Samardzija’s hand than out of a well-aimed pitching machine.

* * *

The early days of the Bucs’ Spring Training have been a big draw for national media, most of them venturing to Pirate City for the first time. In past years, they’d stumble across the Pirates at McKechnie Field, once Grapefruit League play starts.

Winning — and the intrigue it fuels — is a magnet. So the big media guns are discovering Pirate City — eventually, after numerous wrong turns trying to locate the camp site secluded in the midst of a quiet residential neighborhood of Bradenton.

Manager Clint Hurdle has noticed.

“It’s another tangible sign of us making progress as an organization,” Hurdle said. “We’ve had [media] guys in who normally aren’t here this early. You’re one of 10 teams to get in the playoffs, people want to see what you’re going to throw out there, and what you’re looking like coming in the door.”

* * *

Wonder if ole Dallas [the 209] Braden knows there is a Braden in the 941? I’m not talking Bradenton — a neighboring town simply goes by “Braden.”