Going South

Labor Day weekend took us south to two stadiums--Petco Park and Angels' Stadium. We left here at 9am plenty early for a 7:15 game we thought. We didn't think that it would take 4 1/2 hours to get through LA on a Saturday afternoon. Even the car pool lanes were ridiculous.

We only had time for a brief look at Petco before the game began. We got our free SD caps (made in China) and walked past the beach and the berm, the statue and the band, the mini-park for the little kids. Tracy bought his official SD cap (that was made in the USA) and we took the elevator to the top level. We had a great view of everything--even the large screen TVs in neighboring buildings (where people were watching football) and the Icon "Skybox".

There was a fan photographer who came through the stands, some prize giveaway in the sixth inning, and our section was the lucky section to win Lotto tickets! In six years of being at season ticket holder at the Giants park, we were never the lucky section!! Oh, and there was a semi-streaker who ran from right field to the shared bullpen in the outfield, and fireworks! They did play a game--Padres lost to the Rockies. There were many rookies, some of whom got their first "whatever".

We spent the night in Carlsbad and got to Anaheim way early, so we made a shopping trip to Camp Snoopy at Knott's Berry Farm. We still got to Angels's Stadium in time to see many of the players on the field, and I got a few autographs (though I don't know who they were really...) It seemed like the entire stadium was season ticket holders--all of whom were very nice to people like us with San Diego caps and Giants scorebooks. Their fans are very knowledgeable and congenial, and I had a great time chatting with them. Lots of foul balls touched down in the section to our left, but none landed in our section. I really liked the exterior of the stadium with the haloed "A", the baseball bat entrance, and the size 649 1/2 metal baseball caps!

Dodgertown--"Tell it good-bye!'

Here are some photos to give you the essence of the Dodgertown experience. Tommy Lasorda, Manny Mota, Jason Schmidt and Brad Penny were just a few of the people we talked to.

Iknow that I promised that I would be blogging my spring training experiences day by day. Two things have prevented from doing so. First, the motel’s wireless signal strength was too erratic, and secondly, it rained on Friday—the main day when most teams were in the Tampa area.

On Friday afternoon, we drove past two of the stadiums—the Phillies in Clearwater (playing the Braves) and the Blue Jays in Dunedin, who were away. The weather was in downpour mode, so we didn’t even consider attending. We ended up driving north to Tarpon Springs for some antique shopping and then south to St. Petersburg to the Dali Museum. That museum is a gem, and I wish we had had more time to spend there. Our tour guide was excellent in explaining the paintings and their intended symbolism, but we didn’t get to see most of the films. There were excerpts from Hitchcock’s Spellbound and an unreleased Disney film from 1946 called Destino.

On Saturday, we headed even farther south. The best place we went was the Rose Fiorelli Winery, where “Paul” gave a personalized tasting experience to each group—even offering a large selection of foods—homemade port wine cheese and buffalo salami (which tasted exactly like Oscar Meyer bologna—really!), Hershey’s dark chocolate, etc.—to compliment the wines he was pouring. He recommended Mixon’s Fruit Stand for an additional selection of Florida wines for tasting. We did make that our next stop, but we bought the Orange Swirl ice cream instead of more wine.

The Pirates were out of town, but we stopped at McKecknie Field for a photo op. To my surprise, all their spring training games but one were sold out! They probably have better attendance in Bradenton than in Pittsburgh. We headed for the beach and found some shells at Anna Maria Island. We drove south along all the Keys to get to Sarasota, where we took a quick look at Ed Smith Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Reds—who were also out of town, and thought we might get to the Ringling Museums, but it was too late. We had dinner and went to the greyhound races instead.

We needed to recuperate a little on Sunday. It rained a little in the morning, so we took a quick tour of the University of South Florida—much changed since I started my MLS there in 1979—and went to the Tampa Flea Market, since it was indoors. The rest of the day we relaxed and read the Sunday paper poolside, and went to dinner at Stump’s Supper Club which had authentic southern cooking. We tried the chicken-fried steak, pulled pork, and peach cobbler.

At last, Monday at Dodgertown! We are NOT Dodger fans, but any fan would wish for an experience that is typical at Dodgertown. The guys who show you where to park your car let you know the lay of the land before you even get onto the grounds. The players crisscross from field to field to cages to stadium by traversing the very walkways that actual fans use—oh, the humanity! Those who are playing in that day’s game must cross a little bridge to get into the stadium and the fans wait there for an opportunity to get a photo with the player or an autograph. Only two players would not sign (James Loney and Mark Sweeney claimed that they would sign after the game, not before, as they were starting), and Jason Schmidt signed until we thought his hand would fall off!! I didn’t know many of the players, but I got photos of and autographs from some of their hot prospects, apparently. Dewitt was given the top rookie of 2008 Spring Training during the game.

The National Anthem was played on the harmonica by Carl Erskine, and then Tommy Lasorda, who was coaching (because Joe Torre was in Japan or China) made a heartfelt speech about his experiences in Vero Beach and thanked the community. This was allegedly the final game at Vero Beach. The Dodgers are planning to move their operations to Glendale, Arizona for 2009.

We left after the fourth inning, having downed a couple of Budweisers in red bottle-shaped cans and Dodger Dogs. We had gotten really crispy, even with sunblock.

We drove north on A1A through all the beach communities on the Atlantic coast. Most of the beach is not visible from the road, and Disney even has a Vero Beach Resort! We stopped at a public beach access and found a few shells, then headed for Cocoa Beach. We are one block from the beach and from the Ron John Surf Shop (open 24 hours a day—never know when you’ll need a surf board!)