Day 2 of the Cactus League Road Trip has come to an end, and after a long, long day of driving, traffic and baseball, I am eagerly anticipating curling up for the evening and getting some rest. However, I want to share with all of you first the experiences of today, as there sure were a lot of them.
My day started early driving northwest into Papago Park in Phoenix to the practice facilities of the Oakland Athletics. I arrived just as the minor league camp was commencing, so I got to see quite a lot in terms of workouts, simulated games, batting practice and team drills. While these weren't the big leaguers like I saw yesterday at the Cubs camp, it really was neat to see some legitimate baseball action going on.
I was amazed just how accommodating the team was to letting people from the general public just come in and wander around. I guess the teams realize that the people who are actually going to do the wandering are the serious baseball fans and won't cause any ruckus. In the hour or so I spent at the Papago Park facility, about twenty to thirty individuals strolled into watch the various activities.
Hearing the chatter, observing the coaches and doing my own armchair scouting really killed the time and made my stay at the facility a lot of fun. I can say that after seeing the A's minor league team, I wasn't too impressed with the talent level. But, I'm not a scout, just a fan. I may be completely off-base, no pun intended.
After watching camp for about an hour, I got back into the car and drove through the Papago Park to the actual Oakland A's spring training stadium. While the drive was only a short two or three miles, it was the first time that I actually drove through legitimate Arizona terrain and scenery. The road was lined with Saguaro cacti, sage brush and chaparral. It looked like the image that is on all of the postcards for the deserts here. It seems like with all the driving I have done that I haven't gotten to experience the "real" Arizona, besides the freeways and incredibly human-altered landscapes that dominate the part of the country. I am going to make a concerted effort in the next couple of days to stop a little bit and try and enjoy the few pockets of stunning scenery that are around.
Phoenix Municipal Stadium is on the other side of Papago Park from the A's practice facility. It is an older stadium that seems to have been built right into the side of a hill. The view of the barren, red rock formations provides a wonderful backdrop to the field. The park itself reminded me some of a newer Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. The concrete roof and bleachers down the side gave me this impression. Either way, I really did enjoy my time there. The only down side to the park and the practice facility was the lack of shade. As the title suggests, I got pretty fried out in the hot, Arizona sun today.
I had heard some rough reviews of Phoenix Municipal, but I would have to disagree with them. The A's did a fine job of keeping the park serviceable and added some unique touches that I haven't seen at any of the Cactus League parks. On the left field concourse, the A' engraved in concrete the history of spring training in Phoenix and Arizona in small vignettes. Considering the wealth of history that encompasses this league, I'm surprised that more teams haven't done this. This was the one touch about Phoenix Municipal that really touched me deep. In addition to the historical tributes, the park is condensed in a way that keeps everybody close together and, thus, creates a level of intimacy.
The LA Angels got a strong offensive performance and decimated the A's 10-3 in front of Phoenix Municipal Stadium's largest crowd of the spring.
After the A's game, I fought traffic once again across town and made my way up to Peoria to see the Mariners play host to the LA Dodgers. Unlike the other parks I have been to, the city of Peoria seems to have grown up around the park complex itself creating a lively entertainment and dining district within a few blocks of the park. While this by no means puts it on par with downtown parks, it was a nice change of pace from the other Cactus League parks that I have been to that seem to have been built in the middle of nowhere. Within a half-mile or so, there were restaurants, movie theaters and aquatic parks.
Peoria Stadium bore a strong resemblance to Arrowhead Credit Union Park in San Bernardino. The angling of the seats, location of the concession stands behind the grandstand and the overall feeling of camaraderie made me reminisce about San Bernardino. It was a nice park, but didn't really have any one distinguishing feature that made me say "wow!" The bustling outer concourse seemed to have a wide variety of concessions to choose from, but I was saving my stomach for the stop at In-N-Out Burger on the way out.
Seattle used a six-run offensive explosion in the first three innings to beat the Dodgers 6-0.
Tomorrow will be a very similar day to today as I will be seeing another two games in two new parks. I will wake up in the morning at drive up to the brand-new Salt River Fields at Talking Stick ballpark just east of Scottsdale. This facility, which is the first baseball stadium to be built on an Indian Reservation in the United States, is supposedly the new crown-jewel of the Cactus League. I will get there in the morning to watch the host Diamondbacks practice, then play the Kansas City Royals at around 1300. After that game, I plan on fighting traffic one last time and make my way to Goodyear to see San Francisco and Cleveland battle it out.
It should be another long day with interesting experiences and events.
Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)
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