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!)

Broadcasters, Lots of Sunshine, Final Thoughts

Thursday was a low key day. We had breakfast at JB’s, then went shopping for books, toys, and looked at some new housing developments and zipped over to Glendale to look at the antique shops. We had dinner at P.F. Chang’s across from the Fashion Square Mall. The parking is now free in the underground garage and the place was nearly empty at 4pm. The lettuce wraps were as good as we remembered and I liked my Honey Shrimp and the Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc.

Today is Saturday and we are home now and resting up from the drive by listening to Jon Miller and Dave Fleming broadcast today’s game from Scottsdale. The best seats I was able to get for the Friday game against the Athletics (even though it was during the first few minutes they were on sale to non-Charros season ticket holders) was in section 130 row 3 near the right field foul pole. Those seats were way too sunshiny on an 88-degree day, so Tracy sought shelter in the shaded seats behind the plate. Jon and Dave were in the booth right behind our “illegal ticket holder” seats. I had Jon sign his book, Confessions of a Baseball Purist, and he joked about making a “low and outside” call whenever in doubt. Since Dave hadn’t yet written a book, I took his picture, printed it out and had him sign that, bribing him with smuggled in Tootsie Roll Pops—“Thank you for risking your life”. They don’t even let you bring in empty water bottles to Scottsdale Stadium because “you will fill them up”. If you come to spring training, bring enough SEALED bottled water for each person for each game, as one bottle per person is allowed. Most parks won’t allow food (exception Peoria allows a “bag lunch”), so check before you go to avoid a long walk back to your car!

The Giants players were rather stingy with autographs Saturday, and with 11,980 + in attendance, the competition was stiff. I was able to get Mark Sweeny on a photo I had just taken—“What was I saying there?” (“I’m taking fielding practice right now—I’ll catch you later”) Kevin Frandsen, Jason Ellison, and Dan Ortmeier in the Giants Spring Training magazine, and Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez, and Dallas Braden in the Athletics Spring Training magazine. (Each magazine costs $5. The A’s is 52 pages long, while the Giants’ is about 150 pages, and way more interesting and informative). None of the Giants big stars would sign—Zito, Bonds, Durham, Vizquel, Winn were all in the lineup, but they barely looked towards the sidelines while warming up. Willie Mays was there too, and ignoring the fans as usual. We saw Mike Piazza signing beyond the dugout just before the game started. Barry hit his first home run of the spring which went into the practice fields beyond the right field fence. I don’t know how far that is, but it was considerable.

We left the game at 2:30, at the point when the wholesale substitution of players took place. We listened to Jon and Dave call the game on XM radio in the car as we made our slow way home through early rush hour traffic in Scottsdale and Phoenix. We arrived home about 1:30am, even with stopping for a burger and some outlet shopping in Cabazon (near Palm Springs).

Vacations are always too short--we didn't get to Pizzeria Bianco or to Cowboy Ciao for some special meals this year--but it was fun to get a head start on baseball and our tans!

Barry Bonds arrived in a golf cart, zipping right past us. He got a double in one of his two at-bats.

Library, Sprinkles, Bonds

We had no specific plan for today, so we went to the Original Pancake House near Fashion Square Mall for the best pancakes on the planet. Lots of celebrities have eaten there over the years, and they signed the walls nearest the rest rooms. Some of the signatures were painted over, but my favorite celeb, Gene Siskel, was still there, as was Jon Miller and lots of sports figures.

We read in the newspaper that Barry Bonds was going to make a rare road game appearance and planned to go to Peoria to play in the Mariners’ game today, so we decided to go.

On the way to the park, we stopped at Scottsdale Library and I had a chance to see their Children’s Room and Teen Area. The children’s room is decorated with two themes—castle and “cat & mouse”, with tables that look like Swiss cheese, chairs that look like mice, and a “Cat’s Paw” slide that looks like a paw coming through a huge mouse hole. They have lots of games and puzzles, and kids who are "Cleanup Helpers" get a chance to win a prize. The Teen room has an industrial basement look, and has a magnetic poetry board, a snack machine, and a TV (the plasma is out for repair). There is a glass enclosed room that subdivides. Their foam cube furniture is cool and comfy, but I was told that it was only a year old and was mostly trashed. All the computers had headphones. There was some sort of "cone of silence" for music which also didn't really work out.

Out at the Peoria Sports Complex, despite information on the team website that said the stadium opened two hours before game time, we learned that it was really only open an hour and a half before game time. After being let in, there was still no one in the park until nearly 12:30. The Giants had taken batting practice at Scottsdale Stadium, and the Mariners had used one of the fields in the complex. Far right field is THE place to get autographs, as players from both teams come in there from the bus and/or clubhouse. My autographs today included Omar Vizquel—the first one at the park (he drove from Scottsdale Stadium instead of taking the bus)—Guillermo Rodriguez (who told us that “Bonds isn’t here”), Jack Tachsner (on a photo I took at Fan Fest), Billy Sadler, manager Bruce Bochy, and the elusive Benji Molina. A lady from Hawaii and I asked him for an autograph while he was warming up, and he said “When I’m finished” .We were both under the impression that he meant when he was finished warming up, and then when he was finished warming up the pitcher, Matt Morris. After waiting nearly a half hour for him to be finished, we were finally informed that he meant “I meant after I’m finished playing”. So after the third inning, I ran down to catch him before he could escape the park. He did sign two items—a photo I had taken during his warm-ups and a mini catcher’s mitt.

I also got an autograph prior to the game from Mariner Willie Bloomquist. The lady from Hawaii told me later that she tried to get an autograph from Ichiro Suzuki when he left the game, but she couldn’t even get close—it was total chaos.

Bonds was there—he arrived in a golf cart so that he wouldn’t have to make that long walk past the pesky fans. He was the DH and only had two at-bats. His one hit was a double. Other highlights of the game included a slight sprinkle of rain despite the 80+ degree weather, and the multiple foul balls that landed in our section (210--which was shaded). I missed one by inches--it nearly hit the Japanese cameramen behind us, hit the wall, sailed over my glove on the rebound and a guy two rows in front of me got it. Oh well! The Giants won in the ninth inning, thanks to the minor league players.

Dinner was from Old Town Scottsdale’s Schlotsky’s Deli, and back to the room to watch the girls sing on American Idol.

Ace is the Place

American Idol contestant Ace Young just before he led us all in the 7th inning stretch "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".

George Brett

George Brett warming up his team before today's game--the photo that he autographed for me.

Hall of Famer, Future Hall of Famer & an Idol

Breakfast at JB’s again, and since it was a weekday, it was only $5.99 for the all you can eat buffet. We had tickets for the A’s-Royals game, but since the park didn’t open until 11:30 for the 1:05 game, we went to the two Antique stores closest to the motel, the Antique Trove and the Antique Centre, and found a few Snoopy/Peanuts items before heading out to Phoenix Municipal Stadium. It was the Royals, and it was a weekday, so the attendance was low—we estimated about 2,000. I really didn’t recognize any of the Royals players except for Reggie Sanders, since he had been with the Giants on their World Series team. I did recognize their batting coach, though—George Brett. I took a photo, printed it out, and was able to get him to sign it after his “meeting” with his fellow coaches in the dugout. He promised to "take care of everybody" requesting his autograph after the meeting, and he did, though he signed all the baseballs first, and the paper items, like cards and my photo last. He was amazed though: “You just took this! How did you do that?” Ahh, technology!

We had great seats in row 14 behind home plate, but we moved up to cheaper seats in the shaded area near the broadcast booth. It was 81 degrees, and we got crispy fast.

The A’s had most likely taken an early batting practice, since they didn’t even show up until about 20 minutes before game time. I was able to get autographs from coach Curt Young, Erubial Durazo, Adam Melhuse and Mike Piazza. I am told that American Idol contestant Ace Young threw out the first pitch, which I missed, as I was in the “get Mike Piazza’s autograph” mob. But during the seventh inning, he walked past our seats, and I grabbed my camera, followed him, and asked him to pose for a photo. Beautiful! I returned to my seat, and printed a photo while he was leading us in “Take me out to the ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch. When he returned to the concourse, I asked him to sign it, and he personalized it. “This is the one you just took? How did you do that?” I love my printer!

The game went into extra innings and the A’s lost. Both Piazza and Lou Merloni got hit by pitches and had to leave the game.

We went to the Olive Garden for dinner, where we are almost certain that we were seated next to two of the Giants young prospects (basing this conjecture on their build and their conversation, and their jewelry and clothing—I overheard them talking about what diamonds they were planning to buy, and one was wearing two big square diamond earrings).

Spring Training 2007--We have arrived!

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).

Spring Training 2007 - the countdown

This year we will be trying a different Motel 6 - on Scottsdale Road in Tempe. In 2006 we stayed at the Motel 6 closest to the A's stadium, which was conveniently located, had a refrigerator, and was less expensive than the Scottsdale one. The Scottsdale Motel 6 was a great price for the neighborhood, though. Right next to Fashion Square mall, walking distance to the movies and restaurants like P.F. Chang's (Barry Bonds and family arrived soon after we did on a Sunday evening in 2005), and the Original Pancake house just steps away for breakfast.

We have tickets to three games, Giants at Maryvale (Brewers) on 3/3, KC at A's on 3/6, and A's at Giants on 3/9. We ordered the Giants and A's tickets the first day they were available and asked for "best available", so we shall see how good they are! Whenever we go to Maryvale, we always have the best seats, cause few people come out to see the Brewers. A shame, since it is such a nice park, and the Sausage Races are so fun.

Spring Training Trip Preparation

Vacations have been approved, and preparations are now beginning in earnest! We made reservations for the Scottsdale Motel 6 in December. We have tickets for the Giants-Cubs game at Scottsdale on March 6th, and the A's-Giants game in Phoenix on March 9th. Barry Bonds won't be playing until late spring, and the paper announced that Robb Nen had decided to retire, but we can get acquainted with all the new guys and rookies instead. We hope to include a couple of new parks on our trip. We have never been to Merryvale, nor to Tucson to see the teams that train there. Tips on best way to enjoy those parks and get autographs anyone?