Broadcasters, Lots of Sunshine, Final Thoughts

Thursday was a low key day. We had breakfast at JB’s, then went shopping for books, toys, and looked at some new housing developments and zipped over to Glendale to look at the antique shops. We had dinner at P.F. Chang’s across from the Fashion Square Mall. The parking is now free in the underground garage and the place was nearly empty at 4pm. The lettuce wraps were as good as we remembered and I liked my Honey Shrimp and the Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc.

Today is Saturday and we are home now and resting up from the drive by listening to Jon Miller and Dave Fleming broadcast today’s game from Scottsdale. The best seats I was able to get for the Friday game against the Athletics (even though it was during the first few minutes they were on sale to non-Charros season ticket holders) was in section 130 row 3 near the right field foul pole. Those seats were way too sunshiny on an 88-degree day, so Tracy sought shelter in the shaded seats behind the plate. Jon and Dave were in the booth right behind our “illegal ticket holder” seats. I had Jon sign his book, Confessions of a Baseball Purist, and he joked about making a “low and outside” call whenever in doubt. Since Dave hadn’t yet written a book, I took his picture, printed it out and had him sign that, bribing him with smuggled in Tootsie Roll Pops—“Thank you for risking your life”. They don’t even let you bring in empty water bottles to Scottsdale Stadium because “you will fill them up”. If you come to spring training, bring enough SEALED bottled water for each person for each game, as one bottle per person is allowed. Most parks won’t allow food (exception Peoria allows a “bag lunch”), so check before you go to avoid a long walk back to your car!

The Giants players were rather stingy with autographs Saturday, and with 11,980 + in attendance, the competition was stiff. I was able to get Mark Sweeny on a photo I had just taken—“What was I saying there?” (“I’m taking fielding practice right now—I’ll catch you later”) Kevin Frandsen, Jason Ellison, and Dan Ortmeier in the Giants Spring Training magazine, and Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez, and Dallas Braden in the Athletics Spring Training magazine. (Each magazine costs $5. The A’s is 52 pages long, while the Giants’ is about 150 pages, and way more interesting and informative). None of the Giants big stars would sign—Zito, Bonds, Durham, Vizquel, Winn were all in the lineup, but they barely looked towards the sidelines while warming up. Willie Mays was there too, and ignoring the fans as usual. We saw Mike Piazza signing beyond the dugout just before the game started. Barry hit his first home run of the spring which went into the practice fields beyond the right field fence. I don’t know how far that is, but it was considerable.

We left the game at 2:30, at the point when the wholesale substitution of players took place. We listened to Jon and Dave call the game on XM radio in the car as we made our slow way home through early rush hour traffic in Scottsdale and Phoenix. We arrived home about 1:30am, even with stopping for a burger and some outlet shopping in Cabazon (near Palm Springs).

Vacations are always too short--we didn't get to Pizzeria Bianco or to Cowboy Ciao for some special meals this year--but it was fun to get a head start on baseball and our tans!

Barry Bonds arrived in a golf cart, zipping right past us. He got a double in one of his two at-bats.

Library, Sprinkles, Bonds

We had no specific plan for today, so we went to the Original Pancake House near Fashion Square Mall for the best pancakes on the planet. Lots of celebrities have eaten there over the years, and they signed the walls nearest the rest rooms. Some of the signatures were painted over, but my favorite celeb, Gene Siskel, was still there, as was Jon Miller and lots of sports figures.

We read in the newspaper that Barry Bonds was going to make a rare road game appearance and planned to go to Peoria to play in the Mariners’ game today, so we decided to go.

On the way to the park, we stopped at Scottsdale Library and I had a chance to see their Children’s Room and Teen Area. The children’s room is decorated with two themes—castle and “cat & mouse”, with tables that look like Swiss cheese, chairs that look like mice, and a “Cat’s Paw” slide that looks like a paw coming through a huge mouse hole. They have lots of games and puzzles, and kids who are "Cleanup Helpers" get a chance to win a prize. The Teen room has an industrial basement look, and has a magnetic poetry board, a snack machine, and a TV (the plasma is out for repair). There is a glass enclosed room that subdivides. Their foam cube furniture is cool and comfy, but I was told that it was only a year old and was mostly trashed. All the computers had headphones. There was some sort of "cone of silence" for music which also didn't really work out.

Out at the Peoria Sports Complex, despite information on the team website that said the stadium opened two hours before game time, we learned that it was really only open an hour and a half before game time. After being let in, there was still no one in the park until nearly 12:30. The Giants had taken batting practice at Scottsdale Stadium, and the Mariners had used one of the fields in the complex. Far right field is THE place to get autographs, as players from both teams come in there from the bus and/or clubhouse. My autographs today included Omar Vizquel—the first one at the park (he drove from Scottsdale Stadium instead of taking the bus)—Guillermo Rodriguez (who told us that “Bonds isn’t here”), Jack Tachsner (on a photo I took at Fan Fest), Billy Sadler, manager Bruce Bochy, and the elusive Benji Molina. A lady from Hawaii and I asked him for an autograph while he was warming up, and he said “When I’m finished” .We were both under the impression that he meant when he was finished warming up, and then when he was finished warming up the pitcher, Matt Morris. After waiting nearly a half hour for him to be finished, we were finally informed that he meant “I meant after I’m finished playing”. So after the third inning, I ran down to catch him before he could escape the park. He did sign two items—a photo I had taken during his warm-ups and a mini catcher’s mitt.

I also got an autograph prior to the game from Mariner Willie Bloomquist. The lady from Hawaii told me later that she tried to get an autograph from Ichiro Suzuki when he left the game, but she couldn’t even get close—it was total chaos.

Bonds was there—he arrived in a golf cart so that he wouldn’t have to make that long walk past the pesky fans. He was the DH and only had two at-bats. His one hit was a double. Other highlights of the game included a slight sprinkle of rain despite the 80+ degree weather, and the multiple foul balls that landed in our section (210--which was shaded). I missed one by inches--it nearly hit the Japanese cameramen behind us, hit the wall, sailed over my glove on the rebound and a guy two rows in front of me got it. Oh well! The Giants won in the ninth inning, thanks to the minor league players.

Dinner was from Old Town Scottsdale’s Schlotsky’s Deli, and back to the room to watch the girls sing on American Idol.

Ace is the Place

American Idol contestant Ace Young just before he led us all in the 7th inning stretch "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".

George Brett

George Brett warming up his team before today's game--the photo that he autographed for me.

Hall of Famer, Future Hall of Famer & an Idol

Breakfast at JB’s again, and since it was a weekday, it was only $5.99 for the all you can eat buffet. We had tickets for the A’s-Royals game, but since the park didn’t open until 11:30 for the 1:05 game, we went to the two Antique stores closest to the motel, the Antique Trove and the Antique Centre, and found a few Snoopy/Peanuts items before heading out to Phoenix Municipal Stadium. It was the Royals, and it was a weekday, so the attendance was low—we estimated about 2,000. I really didn’t recognize any of the Royals players except for Reggie Sanders, since he had been with the Giants on their World Series team. I did recognize their batting coach, though—George Brett. I took a photo, printed it out, and was able to get him to sign it after his “meeting” with his fellow coaches in the dugout. He promised to "take care of everybody" requesting his autograph after the meeting, and he did, though he signed all the baseballs first, and the paper items, like cards and my photo last. He was amazed though: “You just took this! How did you do that?” Ahh, technology!

We had great seats in row 14 behind home plate, but we moved up to cheaper seats in the shaded area near the broadcast booth. It was 81 degrees, and we got crispy fast.

The A’s had most likely taken an early batting practice, since they didn’t even show up until about 20 minutes before game time. I was able to get autographs from coach Curt Young, Erubial Durazo, Adam Melhuse and Mike Piazza. I am told that American Idol contestant Ace Young threw out the first pitch, which I missed, as I was in the “get Mike Piazza’s autograph” mob. But during the seventh inning, he walked past our seats, and I grabbed my camera, followed him, and asked him to pose for a photo. Beautiful! I returned to my seat, and printed a photo while he was leading us in “Take me out to the ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch. When he returned to the concourse, I asked him to sign it, and he personalized it. “This is the one you just took? How did you do that?” I love my printer!

The game went into extra innings and the A’s lost. Both Piazza and Lou Merloni got hit by pitches and had to leave the game.

We went to the Olive Garden for dinner, where we are almost certain that we were seated next to two of the Giants young prospects (basing this conjecture on their build and their conversation, and their jewelry and clothing—I overheard them talking about what diamonds they were planning to buy, and one was wearing two big square diamond earrings).

Spring Training 2007--We have arrived!

We left Friday afternoon around 2pm, and except for traffic in the Pleasanton area, sailed through to Indio, just east of Palm Springs, before we stopped for the night at the Motel 6 there. Breakfast was at the Café Martinez or something next door, not recommended unless you enjoy rubber eggs.

Even with the time change, we got into Phoenix in plenty of time for the Giants-Brewers game at Maryvale. The consensus among my fellow fans was that if you wanted Giants autographs, this was the place. Everyone who made the trip was signing--Todd Linden, Rich Aurilia, Kevin Frandsen, Jason Ellison, Randy Winn, Dan Ortmeier, Pedro Feliz, and lots of unrecognizable minor leaguers. I missed a few, but only because their were too many to choose from. Matt Morris looked pretty bad, but was lifted after 50 pitches, and the Giants went on to win. We left in the 9th inning—it was cold and getting windy by then, and the highlight of the afternoon—the sausage races—was over.

Our seats were great though—Box 100, row J seats 8&9—put us directly behind home plate. There were scouts to the left of us, scouts to the right of us, and what sounded like Kevin Frandsen’s hometown behind us. We could see that Brian Wilson was pitching 94 mph and Cortes was at 93 mph on their radar guns.

Dinner was Domino’s and a bottle of wine in the room. The dog show is in town, and there are lots of pooches here at the Motel 6 (on Scottsdale near McKillips in Tempe). I thought that there would be a hot tub here, like in the Scottsdale Motel 6, but there is just a pool.

Sunday morning we went to our favorite breakfast place—JB’s (Scottsdale Road at McDowell). On weekends the all you can eat breakfast buffet is $7.99 (even less on weekdays), and is so filling that we never need lunch! Then we headed down to Tucson for Arizona’s largest toy show, where we found items for our collections—Peanuts, push puppets, windups, and ramp walkers.

We thought about going to a baseball game in Tucson, but it was incredibly windy—not worth suffering for Seattle and the Dbacks. So back to Phoenix to the Brass Armadillo for some antique and collectible shopping. Dinner was at Applebee’s, as our neighbors were kind enough to give us a gift card.

Monday morning we got a late start and had a quick breakfast next door at Jim’s Coney Island Café, with lots of specials. My breakfast with 2 eggs, 2 bacon and a waffle was only $4.50.

Since the Giants were playing in Tucson, we went to Scottsdale Stadium to see what the guys who were left behind were up to. We got there at 9:30, but the bus was long gone—8:05, according to the Giants security guy.

Inside there was lots to see—stretching, warmup tosses, batting practice, and the batting cages. I took lots of photos, printed some of them out immediately on my HP portable printer, and asked the players to sign them when they were transitioning between activities. Tyler Walker, Rich Aurilia, and Matt Cain all did so. Omar Vizquel signed a baseball, and Jonathan Sanchez and Lance Niekro signed my team ball. After the practice was over, we waited near the players’ parking lot. Barry Bonds, Noah Lowry, Omar Vizquel, and Armando Benitez all claimed to be too pressed for time to sign. But Matt Morris and Steve Kline were more than accommodating (Steve Kline was so great that he is now new favorite player!). Brand-new prospect Tim Lincecum indulged me—he signed both a photo I took last August 5th in San Jose during his first start (pitching 96 mph), and one that I had taken during practice.

We got to see what cars the players were driving—many of them brand new this spring—Bentleys (Benitez), Escalades (Vizquel), etc. By noon, most everyone had left.

Then we did some more collectible shopping—in Mesa this time—and got back early for a dinner at Red Lobster (it was Lobsterfest).

Spring Training 2007 - the countdown

This year we will be trying a different Motel 6 - on Scottsdale Road in Tempe. In 2006 we stayed at the Motel 6 closest to the A's stadium, which was conveniently located, had a refrigerator, and was less expensive than the Scottsdale one. The Scottsdale Motel 6 was a great price for the neighborhood, though. Right next to Fashion Square mall, walking distance to the movies and restaurants like P.F. Chang's (Barry Bonds and family arrived soon after we did on a Sunday evening in 2005), and the Original Pancake house just steps away for breakfast.

We have tickets to three games, Giants at Maryvale (Brewers) on 3/3, KC at A's on 3/6, and A's at Giants on 3/9. We ordered the Giants and A's tickets the first day they were available and asked for "best available", so we shall see how good they are! Whenever we go to Maryvale, we always have the best seats, cause few people come out to see the Brewers. A shame, since it is such a nice park, and the Sausage Races are so fun.