The Cactus League Is Calling

Why do people go down to Arizona for spring training? Let me count the ways. 

First, to watch baseball in the sun. This is the best way to enjoy the sport. Period.

 We don't get a lot of that in Seattle and when February/March comes along, a typical Seattleite really feels like being in some warmth and sunshine.  So, we head south to spring training. 

 Second, to see major league baseball players up close.

This year, we were intrigued with Shohei Ohanti, a 23-year-old California Angel who came over from Japan this year who pitches and bats.  Yes, he does both.  We went to three Angel games during our trip to spring training and saw him get three at-bats.  He didn't get a hit, unfortunately.  He struck out once, ground out and popped up.

 The other two games he didn't even play but instead he pitched for a B-class Angel team over at the Brewer's stadium in the morning that was closed for public viewing.  He did really well over there, struck out eight.  The big question is - will he be successful in the Major Leagues?  We will have to wait and see.  We couldn't tell during spring training but it sure was fun seeing him up close. 

Third, to check out different ballparks.  

We went to three different ball parks and we liked the Mariner's park the best, of course.  It is called the Peoria Sports Complex.

Most of the baseball teams share their spring training facilities with another team and the Mariners share their's with the San Diego Padres.  This year was the 25th anniversary of the Mariners being at this field so they had a big number twenty-five behind home plate, plus decorative score cards.  

The Mariners use to be at Tempe Diablo Stadium before they moved to Peoria and we visited that stadium, too.  The Angels play there now and don't share with any other team because it's pretty small since it's older.  I loved the rock formations around this ball park.

You can tell that this is an older stadium because it's so small.  They let people stand and watch the game in the concourse but they have a line making sure people stand behind it so others can still walk by. 

The third stadium we visited was Salt River Fields at Talking Stick where the Arizona Diamondbacks share the stadium with the Rockies.  We saw the Angels play the Rockies here. 

You can see why they call this Arizona spring training the Cactus League.  

I loved all the cactus growing everywhere.  

The fourth reason we go to Spring Training is to get autographs.  

I use to be really good at getting autographs in my younger days but so not much anymore.  When the All-Stars played in Seattle in 1979, I got almost all of their autographs.  Later, we use to wait after the games at the Kingdome to get autographs when the players were leaving the ball park.  It was such a BIG DEAL.  Bruce and I really wanted to get Ohtani's autograph on this trip.  We have this really professional photo of him that we got from Nick's friend in Japan that we thought would be perfect for him to sign.  

Bruce tried but he never came over.  Bruce even saw him drive up in his car after he pitched that B-class game.  He was returning to Diablo Stadium and Bruce was the only one standing there when Ohtani's car pulled up, just out-of-the-blue.  He was with his interpreter (the guy on the left above who is very distinctive looking and easy to spot.) When they got out of the car, Bruce said Ohtani looked over at him and his photo and acknowledged it and even nodded and smiled at Bruce but he didn't come over.  So frustrating!!  Later, we heard that he wasn't signing hardly anything at spring training.  Here is the Angels manager, Mike Scioscia, signing.  We saw him sign a lot of autographs at the games we went to.

Some people got their photo with and an autograph from Tommy Lasorda, the long time Dodger manager who was sitting near us at our first game when the Mariners played the Dodgers.  We later heard that he's really good at letting people take photos with him if you say "please" and "thank-you" and he'll give autographs but only with a ball point pen, not a sharpie.  We also heard that he will only eat a Dodger Dog so they make them special for him by grilling them on an outdoor grill somewhere and bring it into the ball park for him.  No, he's not spoiled...he's only 90 years old. 

I got one autograph from a player I don't even know.  I googled him afterwards and his name is Eric Young, Jr. who has been in the Majors since 2003. He's been on a bunch of different teams and is now on the Angels.  Here he is below.  He walked to first base. 

So, we didn't do that great in the autograph category of spring training.  

The fifth reason to go to spring training is the great fans and baseball experience.  The fans here are a lot different than at a regular baseball game.  It is so laid back at spring training and everyone talks to each other.  Even opposite team fans are friends and just want to talk about general baseball.  There are no "obnoxious" fans at spring training.  This Cubs fan let me take a photo of his T-shirt because I loved it so much since I'm partial to goats. (The Cubs were cursed because the owner of the The Billy Goat Tavern was kicked out the game when he brought his pet goat, Murphy, to Game 4 of the World Series in 1945. He got so mad at the Cubs for making him leave that he said " them Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more" and his curse lasted 71 years.)

 Everyone is so happy and thrilled to be at spring training.  There is sort of a party atmosphere about it.  Even the media is having fun.  This guy came over to talk to Bruce after he saw Bruce holding Ohtani's photo and wanted to know where he got it. 

He barely spoke English but he carefully asked Bruce with perfect English pronunciation "What-do-you-hope-to-see-from Ohtani-today?"  Bruce said, "I hope he breaks out of his slump!"  I could tell the guy didn't understand that so I said, "A home run!" and he got a big grin on his face.  He understood that. The Japanese media were just going crazy over Ohtani. It was fun to watch. 

It's also fun because the fans don't yell at the empires or yell stuff to the players because everyone knows it's just for practice, it's not the real thing.  In fact, a lot of the players leave in the middle of the game.  Here are some leaving in the 6th inning:

There are a lot of players at spring training since the teams have not made any cuts.   It looks like around 50 players in the dugout and another 25 in the bullpen.  The dugout is actually crowded. 

The first week of spring training which is when we were there, the main players only play about three innings and then leave.  By the end of the game, all the players remaining had really high numbers like in the 80's or 90's, numbers you'll never see in the regular season. In fact, many are not even listed on the roster that they hand out when you walk in. In the book "My Oh My, The Dave Niehaus Story" (Bruce got it for Christmas) they tell the story about the radio announcers having the same problem.  There are so many players at spring training that in 1993, the Mariner's announcer, Ron Fairly, started making up names because they also did not have complete lists.  "Sammy Jorgensen has taken over in right field and in center that's a young man from the University of Oklahoma, Kenny Campus."  After the game, Dave Niehaus expressed his appreciation of his new partner's preparation and asked, "How did you find out who that was in the outfield in the eighth inning?"  Fairly replied with complete honestly, "I don't know who the hell those guys were - it's radio."  Turned out that Sammy Jorgensen and Kenny Campus would appear in spring training games for some twenty-eight years, all in games called by Fairly - and nobody had a bigger laugh about it than Dave Niehaus.   Bruce and I have decided that we're going to remember those names since they have a nice baseball ring to them.  When I feel like I want to sound like I really know what I'm talking about, Kenny and Sammy will come in handy.  "Boy, Sammy Jorgensen really put on a show down there in spring training this year!" 

Of course, the longer you stay at spring training, the more you'll see the star players.  Near the end of the four weeks, the star players are playing most of the game and the high numbered players start to get cut. The crowds build as time goes on until the biggest crowds are during the fourth week.    

 At spring training games, the stadiums will post the line-up on a wall so you can take a photo on your phone and use it for the game. 

And, of course, we always like to check out the food like this pizza, only the best pizza at spring training.

Bruce opted for a turkey drumstick, hard to resist.

All the fans around us were just as impressed as Bruce dived into his drumstick.  This turkey drumstick was actually very good; tender with a delicious smoky flavor, similar to your favorite ham.  

I chose the popular Island Noodles that I'd seen a lot of people eating that were also very good.  How often can you get in your vegetables at a ball park?

The first game we went to we were so excited about being at a baseball game that we ended up with our usual kielbasa sausage dog - only these were gigantic, so we shared one. 

And on a nice warm spring training day, what is better to eat for dessert than a cookie and ice cream.  They made ice cream sandwiches at Diablo Stadium with any kind of cookie you wanted with any kind of ice cream you wanted.  We chose a chocolate chip cookie and M & M cookie with chocolate mint chip ice cream.  

It's time for dessert at spring training. 

One day, we didn't eat at all at the game because we stopped at In-N-Out Burgers which is right by the Peoria Sports Complex.

In-N-Out is a lot like Dick's Burgers in Seattle because they only have three burgers to choose from; a hamburger, cheeseburger, or a double-double burger. The other menu items are just fries and drinks -simple and efficient. 

The burgers were a lot better than Dick's, though. They were really fresh with a large portion of fresh, crisp lettuce in each burger along with a thick cut of tomato and onion, not the wilted, chopped up kind you get at most burger places. I liked how the burgers were not huge; just a normal portion size. That allows you to have a shake...They give you a lot of fries so Bruce and I split one order. I do like the shakes and fries better at Dick's, however. These shakes tasted like they were made with soft-serve, very creamy and smooth. (or slimy) I like shakes that are more like hand-dipped type. I like Dick's fries because they are more soft and limpy with the potato skins on them. These were stiff and perfect, like they were made from instant potatoes although they say they are made with fresh potatoes. They are probably fresh potatoes, whipped and molded into fries, or something because they were different. We had to experience In-N-Out Burgers while we were south since they are so popular and I can see why. The service is really fast for the crowd of people that go there and there were a lot of employees working there. It was amazing to see. 

In summery, we went to a total of five games at three different stadiums. We saw the Mariners vs. the Dodgers in Peoria, the Angels vs the Rockies at Salt River Fields, the Mariners vs. Kansas City at Peoria, the Angels vs. Cubs in Tempe Diablo Stadium, and then an evening game with the Mariners vs. Angels in Peoria. It's easy to get around to all the stadiums because it's all freeways with traffic that moves fast. 

And a sixth reason to go to spring training is to get a glimpse of how baseball was in the old-days before commercialism. There still is a lot of advertising and hoopla going on but not nearly as much as in regular season. It is so much more quiet and intimate.

 You are a lot closer to the players and to the action since the stadiums are smaller and it just seems more old-fashioned, like baseball was meant to be. It's almost like going back in time to see major league players playing in these small stadiums. Lots of people just bring a blanket and spread out on the grass to watch.

You will never get tired of this kind of baseball. It's the calling of the Cactus League that is hard to resist.