From Mesa…
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Saturday was the first full day I was here, and I went to the A’s-Royals game in Phoenix. Phoenix Municipal Park was relatively easy to find. In fact, nearly everything in the valley is easy to find, since the metropolitan area is set up on a grid system. It’s all pretty straightforward.
Saturday was windy and chilly. And other adjectives ending in -y, like sunny and happy and basebally. OK, I made that last one up.
The game itself wasn’t much of a game, since there were 35 hits and 24 runs scored. Sadly, the Royals scored most of those two dozen runs. I just have to keep telling myself that it’s only spring training, these games don’t mean anything.
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On Sunday I went to the A’s-Cubs split squad game. It was raining and cold. I began to think I brought the Nebraska weather with me.
The Cubs obviously left most of their regulars at home, at HoHoKam park in Mesa. The only starter that I recognized that made the short trip to Phoenix Muni was Todd Walker, and he was DH-ing. The A’s had their full set of starters with the exception of Eric Chavez, as far as I could tell.
The A’s ended up winning 8-4, but I might have enjoyed the non-game aspects of being at the ballpark slightly more than the game itself. I talked to Ray Fosse, former A’s catcher/Pete Rose tackling victim/broadcaster, for a bit and he signed a baseball for me.
I also met Jack Young, father of Curt Young the former A’s pitcher and current A’s pitching coach. Nice guy, that Jack Young. I talked with him twice, for about 15 minutes. He said his son wasn’t too happy about the previous day’s travesty against the Royals. That’s got to be hard on a pitching staff.
Most of the game I sat next to an older gentleman named Ken. He’s been sitting in the same seats at Phoenix Muni for the past 20 years. He knows everyone in the park, and was one of the most interesting fellows I’ve met at a ballgame. He pointed out Barry Zito’s parents, who looked like very normal folks. I’m not sure if I should be surprised by that or not.
Ken also told me that Eric Chavez’s parents usually sit directly in front of him, but they were gone that day. Likely because their son was playing at HoHoKam…
I also learned from Ken’s wife, whose name escapes me, that Mark Mulder wasn’t a particularly personable fellow to the fans. She and Ken go to the late February morning workouts every spring to talk with the players, and apparently Mulder wasn’t very welcoming, and flat refused to sign a t-shirt for their grandson. To paraphrase Kenny Williams, “he’s the Cardinals problem now”…
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Monday brought me not one, but two baseball games.
I began the day by heading to Phoenix Muni at around 9:30 in the morning. I secured the same great parking spot I’d had the previous two days, right by the footbridge over Priest Drive, next to the stadium. I set out my chair, grill, flag, and cooler. I was ready to tailgate. If you’ve never showed up three or more hours before a sporting event and ate a bratwurst in the parking lot, you’re missing out.
Monday’s game was a contest pitting the Mariners of Seattle against the familiar A’s of Oakland. It was again a bit chilly, but nothing I was going to let bother me.
As most spring training games will do, the game being played took a backseat to getting players at-bats and into the field. The A’s starters were mostly gone by the end of the 6th inning. I kind of appreciated the opportunity to see the A’s of the future, though. Over the course of the games so far, I’ve seen plenty of guys that will start the year in AA or AAA, and some in A level ball. I can tell you that Daric Barton has a sweet swing and a great eye. And that’s not just from what I’ve read, it’s now from a first-person, eyewitness account. I’m excited about seeing him at the MLB level in 2007.
I moved around a bit during the game, and ended up watching the last three innings from the second row by the A’s bullpen. If you’ve never been 10 feet away from a major league level pitcher throwing off of a mound, it’s an experience. The sound a 90 mph pitch makes going through the air is an electric buzzing and whirring that cements my thoughts that I could never stand in a batters box against a professional pitcher and have a chance of making contact. It’s incredible. The pitchers look like fluidly flailing giants with arms made of steel springs. You simply don’t get the full effect on TV, or even sitting behind home plate. Up close, really close, they become human, but so much more than human.
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The second game I went to on Monday was in Tucson. If you’re not familiar with the general layout of Arizona, Tucson is about 100 miles southeast of Phoenix. It’s where a few MLB teams train, including the White Sox, Diamondbacks, and Rockies. Those are three teams I wasn’t too excited about seeing, but I did want to see a game in Tuscon, and I had the night free.
The drive to Tucson was a nice one, and went by quickly and easily. Tucson itself is a nice town, with a welcoming downtown area filled with tall buildings and greenspaces with trees.
Hi Corbett field, where the Rockies make their home, is the oldest spring training ballpark in Arizona. You wouldn’t really know it from going there, though. It’s in good shape, and looks as if it’s been remodeled and well taken care of. It’s named after an Arizona politician who was key in bringing baseball to the desert.
The game began at 7:05, like so many other ballgames. There was a beautiful sunset over the right field wall, silhouetting palm trees against the shining clouds.
The game was Padres vs. Rockies, and wasn’t very well played. There were errors, pitching blunders, and plenty of bunts and pitchers hitting. I’m an American League guy who nevertheless wants to dislike the DH, but can’t stand to see pitchers bat. It’s kind of a dilemma for me.
The game was won by the Rockies on the strength of timely home runs, but nearly derailed by a lack of plate discipline and mediocre pitching. Kind of like how they play at Coors.
The fans around me at the game weren’t as talkative as the fans at Oakland games, but I think that’s more a reflection of the 50 degree weather as opposed to a judgment of their character.
Speaking of character, the guy sitting in front of me at the game looked exactly like one of the characters on those inexplicable “old cowboy” greeting cards at drugstores. You know the ones I’m talking about. They feature a withered old man in a tattered hat and boots with holes in them leaning against a fence with either a piece of straw or a wad of tobacco in his mouth. I don’t get them. But this guy was a dead ringer. He was from Colorado, and I don’t think he’d spent more than 10 minutes indoors in 60 years. I think you could sand a wood floor with his stubbled face. Kind of like the bitter beer man, except more rugged, and real.
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Today, Tuesday, started off beautifully, turned sour, brightened, fell back down, and then ended well.
It was sunny and 70 as I left my Motel6 behind this morning. (Speaking of which, the Hwy 60 Motel6 in Mesa is a great place to stay. Clean, convenient, and comfortable. Really. Hear that, Motel6 people? You can pay me in free stays at your fine motels in MLB cities… I wish.)
By the time I got to Scottsdale Stadium, home of the San Francisco Geriatrics Giants, the sun was still out in full force, but some dark clouds had begun to roll in from the western horizon. It got windier and colder by the second inning, and drops of rain started to foul up my scorebook by the fourth inning.
The Arizonans in the crowd left in the fifth, when it began to sprinkle and get cold. That left about half the stands empty, from a sellout crowd. Mind you, it hadn’t actually started raining yet.
It never really did rain. I think we were lucky. I heard that in Mesa, it poured. It was cold, though, but that problem was solved by the credit card companies. No, I didn’t buy a sweatshirt or coat. I signed up for a credit card that I will probably be denied for, but at the very least will cut up when it arrives. For my information, I was given a MLB blanket and a Spring Training beach towel. I sat on the towel and wrapped up in the blanket. This was actually the second time I did that. Two days before, I signed the same papers for a blanket at the A’s home park. I intend on doing the same thing when I go to Peoria, and Tempe. And probably Phoenix again. Thanks, credit card companies!
The A’s ended up defeating their cross-bay rivals 6-4, after a late rally against former Blue Jay and current Athletic Chad Gaudin.
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In the next three days, I’m going to see the following games:
Diamondbacks @ A’s
Cubs @ Padres
A’s @ Angels
Diamondbacks @ Mariners
White Sox @ Mariners
Padres @ A’s
I’ll stop in at a coffeeshop somewhere in Maricopa county a couple of times in there, and update my adventures for you all.
Until then, I hope everyone that’s stuck back home in Nebraska enjoys the foot or two of snow that’s fallen in the past two days. I know I would, if I was there. But I guess I’ll just have to put up with all of this baseball and sun here instead…