Welcome to HalfofCaliHalfofChicagoKam Park (9th Inning)

Boy that is no joke. What do you get when you combine the top 2 teams in fan support down here in Arizona? A setting that was even worse than the day before, crowd-wise.
We saw on the local news here Saturday that Spring Training attendance has hit an all-time high this year. We believe it! We admit, we did not stay long here. After today we can say that we did it and completed our tour, and but also that we are sick of the crowds! The stadiums are just not designed to hold so many people, while providing for a decent fan experience. We also had Lawn seats today, and the berm here was not like any we had seen in the other parks - it was a narrow steep bump that made the people all try to huddle on the top of it, or else you would have to look through the fence at the field in front or at peoples' backsides if you stand/sit behind it. Maybe we were spoiled by the larger better stadiums we had seen earlier in the week. But some of these parks it is just better to get quality seats, to at least guarantee that you will see the game. Cubs did get the win, but for Tiny it was too little too late.

Train Wreck in Tempe (8th Inning)

We made it through the week and to the final weekend, which is good and bad. Good in that we successfully navigated to the weekday games and made it this far, bad in that we were looking at a pair of games on the weekend - which means expect large, perhaps huge crowds. And guess what - huge is exactly what we got at Tempe Diablo. We made it into the park a full 1/2 hour before first pitch, and noticed right away that the outfield bleachers were already about 1/2 full. Then, considering this is an Angels game with many California fans, we knew we were in trouble, as the Cali fans have a tendency to arrive to games late. Adding it all up equaled true Standing Room only by first pitch. To add to our trouble, we had Lawn (grass) seats, which was an immediate forget about it, the lawn was so full you could not see hardly any grass. Tempe Diablo is a nice setting, with the Hills on the left and I-10 on the right. With less of a crowd, it would be a nice place to take in a game. But with as many people that were here today, it was kind of bogus - there was no place to hardly watch the game! The concourses here were built too narrow, an extra 10 feet would have gone a long way. Those of you who know Coors Field can appreciate the wide concourse. Imagine only about a 1/3 of that in width. Then consider that this is not a true "wrap-around" park (meaning you can't walk all the way around the field - the parking lot and I-10 blocks you off) you get cross-currents of people walking back in forth in a wall-to-wall crush of people. Anyway, it was a great game, tied into the 9th 4-4, but the Angels won it in the 10th. How we still do not know - we got the heck out of there early and were already on I-10! Next up, time to close it out with the same Angels at the Cubs. Tiny goes Cubs - they have not won since Sunday, and are due to win.

Peoria Part 2 (7th Inning)

We decided to take an alternate route back up to the Peoria Sports complex today, basically for the reason to find the same Fry's grocery store that had 99 cent Cracker Jacks we got the previous day (the Fry's in Buckeye only had boxes, and we wanted bags!). Anyway, we found the loot but paid for it in another way - getting stuck in gridlock traffic heading east towards the stadium. We had been lucky so far to avoid any major congestion, but on this Friday our luck ran out. There was an overhead highway traffic sign that said to expect delays due to Spring Training games. We could not believe that all of the traffic was caused by a game, on a Friday afternoon. We were wrong. By the time we finally were able to ditch the car in a Target parking lot and walk over to the stadium, we saw that it was Packed! Even fuller than Scottsdale on Sunday. The lawn was so full that we found a place to sit in the shade to where you could only see the scoreboard and the left fielder. So using our baseball knowledge, the scoreboard, roar of the crowd (and cell phone sports scores as a backup), we tried to guess what plays were happening. We did pretty good really. It added a new angle to "watch" a game, that's for sure. Rox got battered around, and lost 9-4, so we did not miss too much as Rox fans. After the game we hit the Red Robin across the street, killed some time moving the car, then headed back for the night game. By then the crowd had thinned out some and it was a nice evening. We left 7th Inning stretch, so we could avoid the crush leaving the game. There was a LOT more people there Friday as opposed to when we came here first on Monday. Next Up: heading east to Tempe to see the Angels and DBacks, the only team we have not seen so far. Tiny split on Friday, is down 4-5 and cannot afford a loss today if he wants to reach the Biggs. Going with the DBacks to win with the expected large support from their home state fans. Angels fans have been all over too, so it should be another large crowd. We better get going...

Surprise! Surprise! as Gomer Would Say (6th Inning)

Today was the first day and game that we did not have to go it alone. Rick's sister and niece joined us today for the game up in Surprise. We had great seats behind home plate and in the shade - no sunscreen was required, for once. Check out the picture of the ball right in the middle between the pitcher and batter (another great picture taken by Rick), to get a feel for how close we were. This was probably the best game that we have seen so far. It was a close competitive game, and both teams were sharp - from they way they were playing it could have been mid-July and not mid-March action. Surprise Recreation Campus is the newest park down here, and you could tell. It was very modern and with an upper deck added on it could pass for a regular big league park. The Rangers and Royals both train here, and both had nice Clubhouses adjacent to each other along the 1st and 3rd base lines. The Royals came from behind and won 6-5, and disappointed the large number of Angels fans in attendance, including us! After the game we drove back through the growing western edge of the Phoenix metro area, back down to Buckeye where we have been staying. We ended the day having a nice dinner with Rick's family at the brand new Pizza Factory in the brand new Strip mall, near the modern housing developments. It was the second night in a row we had a great time hanging out with everyone. Next up: Doubleheader Friday! Rox at Mariners (the sequel), and Brewers at Padres in the night game. Gonna be a long day. Tiny must root always for the Rox - and the Brewers have been playing pretty well, and should beat the Split-Squad Padres, whose big name starters are playing a weekend series in China.

T-Ball Tiny's Oddessy (Grounds Crew Field Touch-Up)

So who is T-Ball Tiny you may ask? First some background. The Spring Training experience from a fans perspective is relaxed and enjoyable. Most people down here taking in the games are visitors to the State, essentially on Vacation like us. Everyone is hopeful for a winning season by their team, and with the promise of a new season hope always springs eternal. It is nothing like the MLB playoffs that we experienced last year in Denver, with the pressure to win and hype that surrounds it. But underneath this relaxed atmosphere (in the stands) is a large contingent of Players (on the field) that are trying to land a job playing professional ball in the big leagues, or even break into the big leagues for the first time. For them it is their lifelong dream, and the competition for spots can be intense. One thing we noticed early on is the large number of players spilling out each dugout, upwards of 50 in some cases! [Check out the photo - though you can't see it, believe us, the benches in the dugout are full of Cubbies sitting down]. When you consider that only 25 will make each team, the cold hard reality is that a lot of players are going to be busing it in the minors with their dreams of playing in the Biggs' on hold for now, at the least. So Tiny was created to try and give everyone a feel for this "competitive underworld" that goes on here. Tiny is simply trying to pick the winner of each contest, basing each pick on sheer guts, determination, and feel - which is a requirement for any Player trying to break into the Big leagues.

Tiny's linescore through 6. Tiny needs to win in order to make the big leagues. Tiny is in trouble!

Player 123 456 789 RHE
TTiny 110 100 --- 371
Gobbs 002 011 --- 480

Can anyone guess who "Gobbs" is? Hint: it is an acronym, drop the 's' at the end: GOBB

Getting Electrified (5th Inning)

Knock Knock Knock ... KNOCK! KNOCK! "Maintenance" [door opens, bright sunshine floods the room] "Ooops, sorry, I did not know this room was occupied" [door closes] was how day 5 of our tour started. The rude awakening actually did us a favor, as it got us up and working our way out of a not-so-comfortable motel stay. We both tossed and turned all night, and generally did not sleep well. We also missed the free breakfast - by 5 minutes. Denny's anyone? After breakfast, we headed over to the Valley Health Care center to visit with Tyson's Grandpa for a few minutes. (He was doing OK Keith, he was kinda tired from the exercises when we showed up. I will pass along more info when I get back in town) . After watching the exercises and listening to Paul the Troubadour entertain, we said goodbye and went a got a sandwich to take to the game. Tucson Electric Park ("TEP" as the locals call it) is another one of the shared parks (DBacks, White Sox) was a much better parking scene than the day before. All 3 of the shared parks are newer and much better setup for parking and in general. You would think that the DiamondBacks would have a nice Spring Training park, what with it being their home state and all... Anyway, it was a nice place, and reminded us of MaryVale. We were pretty tired from the night before, and maybe the Rocks were too - they only had 3 hits and 0 runs through 8 innings, 2 of which came from catcher Yorvit. The other hit came from Sullivan - meaning that the rest of the unknown players added up to exactly 1 hit. Needless to say, the Rocks lost 4-1. Tiny is now 3-3, and struggling to make the team... Next Up: we are in for a Surprise: Angels at Royals. Since these same 2 teams played yesterday and the Royals won, the Angels will even the score today - Go Halos!

Tu-scon We Go (4th Inning)

We got off to a later start on Tuesday, that put us into rush mode on our way down to Tucson. Still, we were able to see some great desert scenery on the route we took. The SH 85 to I-8 to I-10 eastbound route takes you through a state park, which is as "Arizona" as you will ever get.
Traffic was not too bad until we got on I-10 on the outskirts of town. A big 3-year road widening project is underway, and needless to say it was a mess. When we got to Hi Corbett, we found zero parking and had to go over to Home Depot to catch a bus. Reminded us both of the RTD to Coors field method that many of us know so well. Hi Corbett field, Spring Training home of the Rockies, is the oldest of the 9 parks down here, and it showed. While aged and not as nice as the others, it still had a charm to it and fits right into the surrounding area of Tucson. It is part of a greater recreation area, and you could hear other games and activities going on all over. We got to see the some Rockies players up close, and we watched Jeff Francis thank the heavens when the Mariners pitcher threw a wild pickoff attempt that allowed the tying run to score, getting him off the hook for the loss. The other 3 highlights were 1) watching Tulo and Holliday racing on the warning track. Tulo kept winning, even after spotting Matt 2 steps - pretty funny. 2) Matt playing with his Son (see the great photo by Rick with the ball in midair, and 3) Helton taking extra BP after a poor outing on the day. He hit into a Double Play and struck out, and was not happy about it. Rox did win the game 4-1 on the strength of an Ian Stewart HR that we saw sail over the RF fence. After a few minutes in the Team Store spending some cash getting some cool gear, it was back to the bus to the car and onto find the La Quinta for the night. All in all a great day!