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!
