Arizona Fall League Baseball

Tomorrow is the championship game for the Arizona Fall League. Sadly, we can't be there, but we certainly enjoyed the game we saw at Surprise Stadium earlier this year. The Surprise Rafters players were some of the best prospects from the Cardinals, Mets, Rangers, Royals, and the Yankees. They were hosting the Scottsdale Scorpions--Diamondbacks, Giants, Phillies, Pirates, and Rockies prospects.

We chose this game to attend because Joe Martinez (of hit-in-the-head-with-a-line-drive fame) of the Giants was the starting pitcher, and Buster Posey the starting catcher. It only cost a total of $6.00 for both of us to get in because some nice lady gave me a free ticket. Heck, the beer cost that!

We sat behind the plate--there are no assigned seats--about four rows up. The only people in front of us were in the front row. The only section off-limits was directly behind the plate, where the scouts were sitting with their speed guns. It was a fairly quiet crowd, execpt for one woman who had designated herself a cheerleader to everyone on the Scorpions. The only stir during the game was when it was announced that the Phillies had beaten the Dodgers. Naturally, we whooped it up a little, and a guy nearly two sections over heard us and introduced himself as a Giants fan from Berkeley.

I got lots of autographs on the very nice $2.00 full color Fan Guide. I didn't really know who the players were other than the Giants guys, but all the other autograph seekers were guys loaded with multiple copies of each players baseball cards. The players (other than Buster) happily signed everything put in front of them.

It was a grand night and perfect weather for the game. I wouldn't mind having season tickets to this league!

Arizona Rookie League - Goodyear

We headed over to Goodyear to check out the progress of the new Cincinnati Reds facility, co-located within the Cleveland Indians new park. It was going along pretty well, despite the fact that the Reds logo sign was taped onto the building over the entrance. We didn't look really closely, due to the "No Admittance" signs, but there was a Rookie League game that night between the players from the Indians and the Kansas City Royals.

There weren't many spectators. The metal grandstand held the official MLB scorekeeper, a few players, and a scout for the Oakland A's. We could hear the scorekeeper calling in the starting lineup and the game details after every inning. The scout was unfamiliar with just about everything, including how to get to the following night's game at Scottsdale. He didn't even know if the game was to be played at their stadium or at Indian School Park. We offered him advice on the best routing to Indian School.

Just before gametime, one of the Indians players brought us folding chairs and as you can see in the photo, we had great seats--and they were free! We adopted Trent Baker as our player to root for--sharing the same surname, after all!

Shortly after the game began a lovely young lady with long blonde hair was offered a chair near us. She asked various questions about the game, and at some point, we asked if she was either related to a player, or knew a player. She said that she was Trent Baker's girlfriend--how cosmic! He is from Australia, and according to her, used to be a pitcher (now a centerfielder), but they want his bat in the lineup. She is from South Africa originally, living in Orlando now.

The only odd things were that there was no scoreboard--this was the only field in the complex with lights--and the lights for the warmup pitchers was being produced by a noisy gas generator behind us. We think the final score was 4-3 in favor of the Indians. We know that Baker hit the game-winning RBI on a sacrifice fly. However, his girlfriend was perturbed that he made the out, and had made an error in the previous half inning.

One of the pitchers was someone that we apparently should have known (had we been Indians fans) who was making his first appearance after surgery. His fans seemed pleased, and we may have been ignorant, but we had fun anyway.

Goodyear? Great day!

Friday was our last day in the Phoenix area. We wanted to get a good look at the Cleveland Indians new home at the Goodyear ballpark (The Cincinnati Reds will be moving from Sarasota next spring to join them.) Luckily it was half price day and we got in for $6! A nice lady at the side entrance gave me a special ticket for autographs—two rookies, Wes Hodges and Trevor Crowe, would be giving autographs outside the team store at noon.

It was nearly 12:30 until the visiting team, the Oakland A’s, appeared through the center field area. Kurt Suzuki was the first one to approach the fan throng near their dugout. He made sure all were accommodated, even asking “Anybody else?”

More players were soon to follow, including Mark Ellis, Jack Cust, Bobby Crosby (whose #7 had been left behind, and he was wearing #82 until game time), Sean Dolittle, Chris Denorfia. And they posed for pictures. Look at Bobby Crosby, how cute is that?

We moved from our outfield foul-ball territory seats down the left field line to something a little shadier. Hall of Famer Bob Feller had a table set up directly behind us where he was giving autographs and chatting with fans with a “Welcome to the Wigwam!” He would autograph his book for free; if you wanted a signature on anything else, it was $10, which went to the Bob Feller Museum. He had an array of photos available. One showed a Navy vessel, and he and my husband got into a lively, extended conversation about the Navy and all things related. He also posed for photos. He spent hours doing this. We left at 2pm to get on the road for home, and there was still quite a sizable line. The announcer said that he does this at all the Indians’ games here at the park. It was a great day and a great trip this year. See you in Arizona next spring!

Scottsdale Stadium & Indian School Park

Today, just a couple of thoughts for Giants fans hoping to see their guys. Since the Giants had the day off last Thursday, we went to Indian School Park to see if anyone was working out. We spotted Nate Schierholtz and Clay Timpner taking some batting practice, but saw no one else that we recognized. We hadn’t been to the park in several years and the changes were quite remarkable. I’m sure the Giants are proud of them, but they just serve to further distance their fans and erode their fan base. We had to park on the street and follow the signs for “Field Access”. There is a new building between the field and the batting cages, and a new façade on the clubhouse. The batting cages are not approachable, and there is a double green tarp that is impossible to see through on the parking lot side. We had to be satisfied with the sound of the bat on the ball.

The fans are restricted to the upper level just outside the new building and clubhouse. All stairs near the backstop are labeled for Giants personnel only. We may have been able to go down one unmarked stairway that led to the farthest field and park, but it didn't seem worth the effort. See my photo--that's as close as you will get!

Friday morning, we went to Scottsdale Stadium, since the team was playing in Tucson. We got there at 8:45, but were informed that the bus already had left. We saw Randy Johnson as a passenger in a Ford SUV, on the way for “treatment” somewhere east of the stadium. The newspapers later reported that he had thrown a game against the minor leaguers we had seen at Indian School the day before! Could it be that the Stadium personnel were misinformed? Or do they not want fans at Indian School Park at all?

About 9:10, we saw the Stadium gates being opened, but were informed by a Giants representative that only a few guys were going to be practicing and the public was not allowed inside the park.

My recommendation is to see your Giants on the road in one of the fan-friendly parks. We had almost no access to them here in Scottsdale. Save money and stay, eat, and play elsewhere!

A's Player at PF Chang's identified!

In my post on Monday, March 9th, I mentioned that we had had dinner at PF Chang's and we were seated next to an A's player who was with a gentleman who was having him sign some papers. At the time, we couldn't figure out who he was. We just overheard snippets of their conversation--"small market team", "1999", per diem, "Are you staying at the team hotel?", but couldn't quite figure out who it was. As I was watching the A's-Giants game on CSN Bay Area this afternoon, this same player was being interviewed in the dugout. It was Matt Holliday!!! And here I thought that being in the same restaurant as Kyle Farnsworth was exciting. We are home now, and still unpacking, but already missing the 80 degree temperatures! My next post will be about the game on Friday between the Cleveland Indians and the A's at the new park in Goodyear.

Will is still a thrill--and the Nuschler face lives!

We went to Surprise to see the Giants play the Texas Rangers today. The parking is free--the only park in the Cactus League that doesn't charge! The Kansas City Royals minor leaguers were practicing on their back fields with some interesting equipment.

We needed tickets and were approached in the parking lot by an older gentlemen who wanted to sell us tickets. He said that they were front row behind the dugout and that he was a season ticket holder. We were skeptical (the tickets said "Row D"), but he seemed sincere, so we sprang for the tickets at face value. They were right behind the giants dugout, right where the players go down the steps--the prime place for autographs! Will Clark emerged from the player tunnel and signed my mini-bat. I have pursued that autograph for 20 years!! He also threw me a ball that had been fouled off by Fred Lewis at the end of the fifth inning.

There were only about 4,500 people in the stadium, so nearly all of the Giants willingly signed. Aaron Rowand, Buster Posey, Bruce Bochy, Fred Lewis, John Bowker, Eugenio Velez, and more. We saw Omar Vizquel chatting with some of the Giants prior to the game. Seeing him in blue was a little disconcerting, but he seemed to be the same smiling Omar...

SpringTraining 2009--the first three days!

We spent Saturday getting settled in--just checked out the new ballpark in Goodyear. We expect to see a game between the Indians and A's there on Friday.

On Sunday, we stopped at Scottsdale Stadium to buy a Giants spring training shirt for Tracy. Along the way, we noticed a number of Giants players practicing on the field behind the stadium under the watchful eye of Carney Lansford--Steve Holm, Kevin Frandsen, Guzman, and Juan Uribe who in turn noticed us and called out, "Hey, baby! How's it going?" Then we moseyed over to the players' parking lot, where a Jaguar pulled up. Gino Espinelli and another player autographed my mini-bat.

Then we hit the road, since we had tickets to the game between the two new resident teams at the Camelback Ranch ballpark in Glendale, the Dodgers and the Chicago White Sox. The park has a 50's western style with lots of stone and with metal painted brown to look like wood. There is a large pond just outside the ticket area, and legend has it that a Giants fan has already fallen into it. Sunday featured a steel band on the plaza outside the park, and it was Kids' Autograph Day. They had dozens of players from each team along the railing on both side of the park allowing kids to step up for autographs. I managed to get autographs from Manny Ramirez and Matt Kemp on my Louisville Slugger Museum mini-bat before the "event" started. Then, since only a few of the players had a line of kids, I just tagged along and when all the kids had gone through, I asked the usher, "Do I look young today?" Most of them winked and said, "Go ahead, kid!"--only one lady gave me a little grief--"I could get in trouble...", but the Dodger player said, "It's OK--it's all good!"

Tracy had gone off to find our seats which were in section 117, row 1, right behind the plate close to the Dodgers' dugout. Until I joined him, he chatted with a gentleman one seat over who introduced him to his son. Tracy said he was certain that the man we were sitting with was the actor who played the father (Red) on That 70's Show, Kurtwood Smith. I had worn my "Beat L.A." shirt given to me by Matt Johanson (who wrote San Francisco Giants:Where have They Gone?). Wearing it got me a lot of attention by the partisan crowd, but in a joking way--I think! After a number of innings of dozens of people asking "Red" to pose for a photo with them, I finally asked if he would object to posing with me. He did make a point of covering a portion of the shirt with his hat!

Monday was a low-key day in which we did a lot of shopping for collectibles and found a few Snoopy items for our collection. We stopped at P.F. Chang's in Scottsdale for an early dinner and managed to sit in a booth next to an A's player who was with someone who was having him sign some contracts. (Maybe someday we will know who he is!) Also right outside on the patio sat Kyle Farnsworth with his family. Why he was eating here and not at the one in Peoria--much closer for Royals players--we never figured out.