Spring Training

[familytoad]

I am at the airport, waiting to board for Phoenix!
We have tickets for 3 games so far and will likely hit one more while here.
It's been a pretty consistent migration for me, 5 of the past 6 years.
When I retire, I expect to spend the whole month at Spring Training. ..but as of this moment I am pleased to announce that I am on vacation and will be getting a sunburn soon after a very soggy past 2 months in the great Pacific Northwest.
Any N54 dudes in town this week?

[frankbmd]

Brian,

I hope you packed your portable toadstool.

[Fastball]

I'll be working the Main Gate concession stand at Scottsdale Stadium this Saturday. SF Giants play the Oakland A's.

Our Little League charter (Paradise Valley North LL) volunteers every year to raise money for the kids and the fields.

If you're in the area, feel free to stop by and check out the game! It'd be fun to meet you.

Sincerely,

Ryan Larson

[bbcard1]

My son and I have done an AZ swing the last two years. I have a close friend who runs spring training for the Padres and helps us out a lot. It's all man, all go, all the time. 5 games in four games PLUS an NBA game PLUS a tour of the Phoenix football stadium (worth it) PLUS a trip with some hiking to the Superstition Mountains. I'm back home now and a little tired, but it was worth it. I suggest you stop by Alice Cooperstown (co-owned by Randy Johnson and Alice Cooper) and see if you can tackle a Big Unit. My son and I split one and truth be told we didn't finish it.

[familytoad]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

My son and I have done an AZ swing the last two years. I have a close friend who runs spring training for the Padres and helps us out a lot. It's all man, all go, all the time. 5 games in four games PLUS an NBA game PLUS a tour of the Phoenix football stadium (worth it) PLUS a trip with some hiking to the Superstition Mountains. I'm back home now and a little tired, but it was worth it. I suggest you stop by Alice Cooperstown (co-owned by Randy Johnson and Alice Cooper) and see if you can tackle a Big Unit. My son and I split one and truth be told we didn't finish it.

All man, all run, all the time. I like that definition!
The wives are at home , and the length of the leash has been increased
The dudes are heading to the art museum in a couple hours to check out the Kendrick Collection.
We got in town too late for games today.

Then dinner and drinking (no booze for me, this toad has retired from that scene) until the wee hours. 3 games in a row, and maybe a hike in the desert (I predict a short one).

I have been here 4 of the past 5 springs (usually Scottsdale , but not this year, Ryan, as we are checking out some different parks this time)

Alice Cooper's place sounds fun! Thanks for the tip...it's only 5 miles from here and close to the museum too.

Loving the sun! ( I predict a sunburn )

[familytoad]

I had a few minutes to report today:

Alice Cooper's place is pretty cool, full of memorabilia in sports, rock music, pinball machines, celebrity autos. Definitely worth a trip!

The Big Unit Hot Dog is the size of a little league bat. Nearby customers, party of 4 grown men...almost ate two of them, but gave up. They ring a loud bell when anyone orders it ! Quite fun.

The Kendrick Collection at the Phoenix Art Museum will blow your mind.

It's unfathomable to see these classic cards in such minty condition.
I took a lot of pictures, I don't know if I could or should show them all here...
I may share a couple when I get home , assuming it's not some museum rules violation.

The T206 Plank was my favorite.

I think I counted 41 cards on display. All in amazing condition.
I counted that I own 14 of those, but most of mine are POOR condition. Still, I was happy with that percentage.

Phoenix weather is amazing in March.

Spring baseball is different than regular season, but almost as fun. Seeing players wearing #97 for example...those kids must be in heaven playing alongside the superstars (if only for a month)...dreaming of when they'll have their own shot.

Prices for flights, rental cars, hotel rooms are rising to the point of real money.
If I keep this up, I will never get the other 27 cards

[Nashvol]

I returned Friday from five days in Florida with three buddies where we saw six games:

Monday, Lakeland, Tigers vs. Mets
Tuesday, Dunedin, Blue Jays vs. Orioles
Wednesday, Tampa, Yankees vs. Pirates
Thursday, Bradenton, Pirates vs. Yankees
Thursday, Sarasota, Orioles vs. Blue Jays
Friday, Clearwater, Phillies vs. Pirates

My previous spring training trip was two games in one day back in 2007, in Kissimmee, Astros vs. Indians and in Orlando, Braves vs. Tigers

I'm hoping to make it to Arizona next year.

Skip

[familytoad]

Skip, thanks for writing about your experience !

I am intrigued by the Grapefruit League, although one thing about The Cactus League is the close proximity of the 10 different fields. Traffic is a bit nasty but they are all within 40 miles of each other, tops.

Not being familiar with Florida, I am curious as to how much driving and distance you needed to cover to watch all those games...
We try to centralize our hotel stay, one headquarters. Not sure if that's possible in Florida if you want to see multiple venues?

[Nashvol]

Hi Brian,

We stayed at the Bay Harbor Hotel in south Tampa and I would recommend it. It's not a great hotel, but more than adequate and with easy access to the ballparks we visited. The farthest game was about 40 miles away and we allowed plenty of time to walk each venue before the games.

One of our guys had experience as he is a sportswriter and had made several trips before. Not only did he plan each day for us, he did all the driving which made it easy for the others as the traffic was something else depending on the time if day.

Set aside time to visit Clearwater Beach, too; it's beautiful there.

I'd recommend doing it like we did since we didn't have to pack up every day or two. That's why we hope to visit Arizona next year due to the proximity of ballparks.

In the future we may try to go to the east coast of Florida but I'm sure there will be some moving around.

As a side note, each venue we visited this past week was rained out yesterday (Saturday), so we just happened to hit each park at the right time.

Skip

[familytoad]

Awesome, thanks again Skip.

I cannot say that I will do Florida instead of Arizona , but I don't get to see my Phillies by only going to AZ...and my wife's sister lives near Clearwater. I think Arizona still gets my vote.
Still...it's intriguing.

I think we should lobby for a Net 54 meet up in AZ next season for a social.
Our grassroots effort could start with a few of us and eventually grow to a festival of epic measures.

(I wonder if a baseball card show would be successful during Spring Training, as I'll bet there are a lot of collectors who do this annual pilgrimage)

[packs]

I went to Spring Training in Arizona 2 years ago and went to Florida for almost a decade before that. My last trip to AZ was my first, but I enjoyed it so much more than Florida. All of the camps are less than an hour from each other and that means plenty of multiple stops in a day. You just can't do that in Florida.