The final day of the Cactus League Road Trip was has come to a close as I fly back to Eugene tomorrow morning. But just being the final day did not diminish the excitement and fun that has come to define this trip over the past four days. Today offered up the opportunity to finally experience the deserts of Arizona and see my 40th professional ballpark. It is another day that has added to the ever-growing story of the baseball road trips.
I was on the road a little earlier than usual today as it was my intention to drive to South Mountain Park in Phoenix to do some hiking. South Mountain Park is considered to be one of the largest urban parks in the world at over 16,000 acres. The park spans three separate mountain ranges and offers the outdoor enthusiast plenty of activities that are set in a truly desert environment. I took advantage of this and made my way to the park in the morning with the intention of doing a little hiking before going to the White Sox-Brewers game in the afternoon. I was not disappointed with this decision.
Getting to the park at around ten in the morning, I was surprised to find that the main arterials to the park were closed to all vehicular traffic. This is done on certain Sundays during the spring to open up the winding and mountainous roads to cyclists and hikers. I found a place to park at the bottom of the mountain and began by trek into the park.
As I started down the trail, I began to notice that the trails were not marked as well as they should have been. I had been following some horseback riders and a few other hikers, but between stopping for photos and admiring the incredible desert environment, I got separated from them. This became a problem as I got farther into the park until suddenly I ran into what appeared to be a partial canyon that surrounded me on three sides with sheer rock cliffs that had to have been thirty feet high. I tried to backtrack my steps, but quickly became even more turned around. I eventually stumbled onto a road that seemed to lead back around this ridge that separated me from the car, so I decided to follow it until, just as suddenly, it dead-ended.
I don't admit this much, but I was lost. I knew where I had to go, but I didn't know how to get there. I decided to trail-blaze a little and simply scale the ridge in front of me and get to the other side. The rocky ridge shot up a few hundred feet, so climbing it would not have been a problem for be. About halfway up the mountain, though, I remembered that this was extreme rattlesnake and scorpion country, and that it would be very unfortunate if I were to run into any f these creatures, so I had to be very careful. I was so caught up in the rush of taking on this challenge in this environment that I hadn't initially considered that small facet of outdoor survival.
By the time I got to the other side of the ridge, I had zero encounters with snakes or scorpions, and I was thoroughly worn out. I had drank all of my water in my canteen and gotten really sunburned, but was refreshed that I had successfully navigated some rough and difficult terrain. It was a real rush and, in hindsight, I'm glad that I got disorientated because I really got to be adventurous in the presence of the really harsh desert elements. It sure beats sitting in traffic!
After my adventure in South Mountain, I made my way down Central Ave. to the home of the Milwaukee Brewers and Maryvale Ballpark. Located in what seems to be a real rough neighborhood, Maryvale Ballpark appears rather abruptly out of the residential setting. The stadium is surrounded by four practice fields that are real basic in amenities and facilities. You can tell that the Brewers aren't exactly the biggest draw in the Cactus League, so they don't need to be extravagant in their catering to fans.
Maryvale Park is very basic. It reminded me almost of a college ballpark with no frills, a very basic scoreboard and average concessions. The seating extends foul pole to foul pole with lawn seating encircling the outfield. The concourse is open to the field and has about three or four main concession stands. Sure, they had Klement's brats (this is a Milwaukee franchise, after all) for sale, had the sausage race and sang Beer Barrel Polka, it really didn't impress me much. After seeing all these parks the last few days, Maryvale just didn't stack up.
When I first got into the park, the PA Announcer got on and said that a number of baseball players and personalities were signing autographs in front of each seating section. I saw that Hall-of-Famer Bob Uecker was signing autographs in my section, so I quickly hustled down to the famous announcer and had him sign my program. Famous, at least in baseball circles, for being the eccentric announcer in the Major League movies, I just had to get an autograph and a picture from the guy.
The White Sox got some incredible starting pitching from Mark Buerhle and held on in the ninth as the Brew Crew put the tying run on third to win 2-1.
Today's game was an important milestone for me. Not only was it my seventh different venue and seventh game during this road trip, this game represented the 40th different professional baseball park that I have seen a game in. Talk about an incredible feat!
Tomorrow morning I head back to Oregon. I will wait until I get back to the Beaver State to author up a final thoughts section.
Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)
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