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).
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).
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