PHOENIX -- It snowed here Friday morning. The world stopped spinning on its axis. Day became night; night became day.

And manager Ned Yost apologized. To me.

OK, none of the first three items are true, but they are about as rare as Yost apologizing to a reporter he has known for almost 30 years and jousts with on a regular (and usually friendly) basis.

It all began Thursday morning during batting practice when I mentioned to Yost that I would be heading home Saturday morning to Madison, where the temperatures were expected to be below zero on Friday night.

"Don't overexaggerate,'' Yost said.

After advising the manager that overexaggerate is a redundancy, I explained that was the forecast. He accused me, however, of taking a reporter's whiny, complaining viewpoint to my return from spring training but promised an apology if proved right.

Now, Yost is right about reporters in that sense. We (I) tend to complain about the littlest thing, whine about a perceived slight and cry when our inflated sense of justice is pierced.

But not this time.

I stuck my head in Yost's office this morning on the way into the clubhouse and told him he owed me an apology.

Thirty minutes later, as reporters gathered in his office, he pulled out his i-Phone and asked my zip code to check out the forecast. He gathered in the forecast, starting reading aloud and finally came to the overnight temperature prediction.

"Minus 6,'' he said, astounded not only by the forecast but the fact that I was right (or is it he was wrong?).

That's when he offered me a hand for a high five, his way of admitting I was right.

That will have to stand as his first apology to me until March 28, when the Brewers return to Miller Park for two exhibition games and I find something else to make him apologize for.

Meanwhile, also bid my farewell to bench coach Ted Simmons, who doesn't want me to go because that leaves him as the last Democrat in this Republican stronghold.

Simmons and I have been bouncing back and forth on the nomination race all week. He's for Clinton; I've got Obama. But no matter our differences on that -- he wants a dream ticket of Clinton-Obama with the possibility of 16 years of Democrats in control of the White House; I don't see it happening, one way or the other -- we both tilt the same way on the political spectrum.

That's a rarity in baseball these days. When Simmons was playing and I was just getting started covering baseball, players were more Democrat than Republican. The money wasn't good enough to make that a big influence on their political thinking and so many of them -- at least the players from the United States -- were raised in blue-collar families that formed the base of the party back then. Now, many U.S. players are kids from the suburbs who were raised in Republican families. Besides, the money in the game is so good these days all the players can think of is lower taxes so they can put more in their pockets.

"You can't go,'' Simmons said this morning. "Now I'll have no one else to help me out.''

Hold down the fort, Teddy. At least it will be warm where you are.

Oh, by the way, take a look at my piece planned for Sunday in the WSJ on Simmons return to the field after years in a variety of front office positions around the game.