With hockey and basketball season in full flow and National Signing Day only a day away, it’s easy to forget that baseball season is right around the corner. Even though pitchers and catchers don’t report until the middle of February, baseball fanatics should check out “Hot Stove Night,” a public session sponsored by the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism.

The session, held this Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Foster Auditorium of the Paterno Library, will focus on a variety of topics ranging from Penn State’s recent trip to Cuba, instant replay in Major League Baseball, and the Red Land Little League team becoming the first in-state team to win the U.S. title since 1990 during the LLWS. Sports Knight Chair and Curley Center Director John Affleck will be on hand to moderate the panel.

“The first week of February seemed to me like the perfect time to look ahead to the spring and baseball,” Affleck said. “We’ll look at some of the current issues for the game at all levels, with a particular eye on the media piece, and we’ll have some fun looking ahead to the 2016 season and the big stories we see ahead. It should be a fun night.”

The panel will feature a diverse group of baseball pundits with Pittsburgh Tribune-Review baseball writer Rob Biertempfel, LLWS senior director of communications Brian McClintock, and Penn State baseball coach Rob Cooper all joining Affleck for the discussion on Tuesday.

Penn State baseball opens its USA Baseball Complex Tournament in Cary, N.C. against Monmouth on February 19.