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.