Spring Training trip report

Even though I'm a dug-in, life-long Astros fan, we chose Cactus League and the Giants because we're big Giants fans.  We attend several games every year when my wife has to go to San Francisco on business.  In fact, she schedules the trips around Giants home stands. Astros Spring Training would be great fun too, but I see those guys at least 100 times a year already.

We went to three games; Dodgers, Royals, & Athletics.  This late in Spring Training a lot of roster cuts have already been made, so you’re seeing more of the regular players and top AAA guys.  I assumed it would be more pure baseball than the regular season, and I wasn’t disappointed. 

They announce the line-ups, sing the national anthem, and it’s baseball for nine innings –  no smile cam, no kiss cam, no follow-the-baseball shell game, no Hummer races, no text your favorite song, no lucky fan seat upgrade, no guess the attendance, no t-shirt slingshot, and no mascot races – just baseball.  No visual noise, no distractions. The event is the game.  The fans are much more hardcore than many that attend regular season games.  They get there before the game and leave after the last out.  They make that long pilgrimage from other states for the game, not to mill around in the concourse and socialize.

We had the season ticket holder package which included a dinner Saturday night with four of the players. It was a nice evening & good food.  The four players were Cody Ross, Panda, Pat Burrel, & Andres Torres.  They answered questions and talked to fans for about two hours.  All four were very nice and personable. They signed the line-up sheet I took off the bulletin board in the clubhouse of the practice fields. 

After the last game (Athletics) we waited and met Jeremy Affeldt.  Also very nice.  He must have talked to fans and signed autographs for an hour at least.  The biggest treat for me, however, was getting to meet and talk to Jon Miller.  He calls the games for the Giants as well as having been (until this coming season) the voice of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball for the past 21 years.

Anyone who have ever tried to call me between the hours of 7 – 10 PM on Sunday nights knows that Sunday Night Baseball is the only TV program I never miss.  Jon Miller was super nice and very appreciative of our years of devotion, as well as our disappointment that ESPN has reworked the show. I have his autobiography and was going to ask him to sign it – but I forgot to put it in my suitcase. Good thing I left it on my desk for the past two weeks, next to my keys, so that I would remember to pack it get accustomed to seeing it and then to leave it behind.  ;-)

That’s it for the baseball part.  On a side note, the cities of Phoenix\Scottsdale were very pleasant.  The people everywhere were Stepford friendly and the entire area may be the cleanest place in America. Certainly the cleanest city I’ve ever seen.  That said, the constant Sun and 5% humidity would be very tough to take.

Our only side trip was to visit Taliesin West.  We’re big Frank Lloyd Wright nerds, so seeing his personal residence was a big treat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliesin_West

A few pics;

Yeah, people seem to be either hot or cold on them.  I'll surely miss them, but I suppose I'll give Orel and Valentine a look.  Don't know much about Schulman. 

If I don't dig the chemistry, I'll just switch to Rangers baseball, which is shown here locally on Sunday nights.  The Rangers are the only team allowed to play on Sunday night (other than the two on ESPN game) because of the oppressive heat in Arlington.