Cactus League

If you're interested in the baseball itself, you might be more interested in what Mike has to say about this trip:
The 8 year old inside me screamed!

But even I, the very casual baseball fan, have plenty to say about visiting spring training in Phoenix.

First, Phoenix is ridiculous. When you consider that about 25% of the state's population lives in Phoenix, and about 50% of the state's population lives in the "metro area", it's no wonder that this was the first traffic I've seen since arriving in Arizona in early January. My dad lived here before he moved back to NJ and met my mom and lived happily ever after, but he was confident that the place I was describing was WAY built up since he lived there over 30 years ago. Still, despite the traffic, it was great to drive around all week and get to know the area a little. We also went and saw the house my dad lived in, which was pretty amusing for me.

Second, the drive from Bullhead City to Phoenix was really pretty. I've driven as far on that route as Wikieup, but after that stretch of huge ranches, Route 93 leads into saguaro cacti and Joshua tree "forest" before heading into the sprawl of Surprise, Sun City and all of the -dales outside of Phoenix.

Tree of the trip: Joshua trees! in bloom!

So, baseball. blah blah blah sports blah blah baseball. No, just kidding, I actually have things to say. I actually like sports. People forget that often, because I don't particularly care for watching TV.

Monday night: Reds @ Rockies, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, Scottsdale. The park was pretty sweet, set up in a way that we were able to stand behind the bullpen all night and chat with the players. We chatted with Arroyo while he warmed up, and hoped Todd Frazier would come by so we could yell all sorts of Toms River love at him... but no such luck. I adored the organ pipe cacti around the park.

Tuesday: Cubs vs. Rangers, Hohokum, Mesa. I almost became a Cubs fan because they kept playing Blues Brothers songs between the innings over the loudspeakers. Actually, I was pretty excited about the ballpark music in general, as it seems Hohokum features an actual human being playing the organ. It was a great game, though lawn seats are intense in the Phoenix sun.

Tuesday night: Giants @ Mariners, Peoria. We were so exhausted from the long afternoon in the sun (the beers probably didn't help), so we only made it about halfway through the game.

Wedensday: Dodgers vs. Royals, Surprise Stadium. An increase in sunscreen and decrease in beer lead to us feeling a lot more awake, but we decided one game was enough. Not that I really had much a stake in any of these games, but man is it great just enjoying a game on a beautiful day and not really care who wins.

Thursday: White Sox vs. Brewers, Camelback Ranch, Glendale. Free parking! I think this was my favorite park. There was something aesthetically pleasing about the fact that the seats matched the sand. The lawn was particularly steep, so not only did we have a great view, but we also had the added entertainment of a bunch of small children repeatedly running up and rolling down the hill.

All right, all right. I didn't actually say much about the baseball games themselves, but I did really enjoy this. The last major league game I went to was a very, very rainy Mets @ Nationals game the day I finished my first year of college in 2005. Dad and I stopped and enjoyed watching a few innings of ball and a field crew tripping over themselves trying to get the tarp out before driving back to New Jersey.

Good trip. I do like a good ball game, live and in person, so five of those was a sweet way to wrap up spring break.