Tempe

On Venturing into the Devil's Temple

Tempe Diablo Stadium, 2016

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Seattle Mariners vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Tempe Diablo Stadium
Cactus League (Spring Training)
Tempe, AZ
1:10 PM

Outside the Game: 

With another afternoon game looming, I fell into what would be my routine on days such as this: early breakfast, walk in the park, and the trip to the gas station for water bottles so I didn't die.

I drove out to the park early today, and it would turn out beneficially, as I was able to get a spot in the parking lot closest to the stadium. This made it easy getting in, and subsequently getting out after the game's disappointing conclusion. With a late afternoon to kill, I went to nearby mall, as it LEGOLAND Discovery Center and the SEA LIFE Aquarium. It was good that the Aquarium was also there, because the LEGOLAND wasn't going to open until the summer. But the Aquarium was also a good destination, for no other reason than to say that I had gone to two aquariums in the middle of the desert. If there is another greater tribute to man's folly, I'm not sure what they might be.

As pointless as an aquarium in Arizona...

The aquarium was a chain place, and it was overpriced and little too commercial, but it was an agreeable way to spend a late afternoon, if, for no other reason than it was inside. After I had my fill of the aquarium, I wandered the mall for a while out of curiosity more than anything else, and ended up having an early diner at a gourmet burger place in the expansively overdone food court.

I feel so welcome for some reason

Entertained and fed, I went back to the hotel, changed into my trunks, and headed out my nightly soak in the hot tub. My companions this evening were a Canadian couple down for Spring Training, even though the only remaining Canadian team spring trains in Florida. They were west-coast Canadians and more Mariners fans than anything else. A soak and conversation was had, and I eventually went back to my room to shower up and head to bed, another day under my belt.

The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, Tempe Diablo Stadium

Tempe Diablo Stadium is literally translated as "The Devil's Temple," and given how hot it got, it makes a good a name as any. The old park was the Seattle Pilots’ stadium and the only Spring Training facility back in the day. The Angels have modernized the park a good deal, but it still has the dimensions of an old-school facility. The park is at the top of flight of stairs that leads to the main entrance. There are only three to the entire park, the second being just around the corner and the last being out in left field, which doubles as the player's entrance from the practice fields that lie outside of the left field confines. It takes a bit of walking to get to the practice field, and you might miss the entrance out by left (just beyond the parking lot), which leads to a long path that eventually empties out on the practice fields. The staff is among the most helpful in the Cactus League, with people walking around to hand out full training rosters and point you to where the players are or tell you what squad is practicing at the field you're watching.

A hotel sits on a mesa beyond the left field wall and copiously warns non-guests from parking in their lot. Parking is somewhat limited at the park, with two main lots, a small one by the main entrance that fills up nearly immediately, and a larger one beyond right field. Overflow goes wherever they can fit it. The staff at the gates are also very friendly, and do a lot of pre-checking of bags so that fans can get into the main entrance as fast as possible.

All the entrances lead into a narrow promenade that runs from outfield to outfield behind home plate above the seating bowl. The areas behind home plate and the dugouts have regular stadium seats, while the seats out to the baselines and outfield are all backed bleachers. Picnic hills top off left and right field. A second level of party areas, luxury boxes, and press boxes rises above the sun shades behind home plate and around to the dugouts. The digital scoreboard sits in right-center. Right field is anchored by an alcove in the promenade with picnic seating and slightly larger concessions, while the left field opens up to a larger specialty concession area, and the Miller Patio behind left field proper. Angel’s championship pennants hang over the luxury area behind home plate, and one part of the Cactus League history is on display in the infield promenade. Team stores inhabit pillbox-like chunks built into the superstructure of the promenade.

There is very little between-inning activity, either due to the limited confines of the old stadium, or people not wanting to risk heat stroke performing strenuous activity on the field in the afternoon sun. The park was packed, and given the lack of amenities and entertainment, points to the fans for being there for the activity between the lines.

At the Game with Oogie: 

Sliders

One of the charming things about Tempe Diablo was that for the most part, it had old-school concessions stands that sold only one or two entrees. I had to get a brat from one of those, because how couldn't you? I also went into the expanded concession area in left field and got three BBQ sliders samplers, because how couldn't you do that either?

My seat was in the bleacher seats just beyond first base, and for one of the few times ever in a ballgame, I had to bail to the shade. It was hot. I cannot accurately convey how friggin’ hot it was. And this was after a week of getting acclimatized to Arizona heat and mostly spending my time at afternoon games. "Tempe Diablo" wasn't just a name: It was an accurate description of what it was like to sit on those bleachers in the afternoon. No fooling, folks.

I eventually retreated up to the promenade and shade, and the problem there was that the promenade was a narrow little thing, and they needed to be sure to have space for people to walk by. So bailers were kept behind a yellow line by firm but friendly staff. I ended up spending most of the game standing next to a gentleman who had visited even more stadiums than myself. We ended up talking about all the older stadiums that he had visited that went to dust by the time that I started my trip. It was a most enjoyable way to spend an afternoon, especially once in the shade and out of the damned sun.

The Game: 

First pitch, Mariners vs. Angels

I'll cut to the chase here. This match between the Mariners and the Angels ended in another godless communist tie, and I wasn't happy about it, especially with all the sun-related trepidations I had to suffer through because of it.

The Mariners had a two-out rally in the top of the first, with three straight singles to bring in a run and give them a 1-0 lead... for exactly two batters. The Angels opened up the bottom of the first with a two doubles to tie it up, but got nothing else across. Seattle led off with a double in the top of the second, but stranded him, and the Angels for their part had two stranded baserunners in the bottom of the frame. Seattle just got a single in the third, but the Halos turned a leadoff double and a one-out single into another run, taking a 2-1 lead... for exactly five batters.

The Mariners lead off the fourth with a double and an error on the third baseman to make it first and second with no outs. Two quick outs followed, but a deep double to right brought them both in, to give the Mariners a 3-2 lead... for exactly four batters. The Angels got a one-out walk who made it to second on a wild pitch. A two-out double brought him in to tie it up again at three.

I got see Mike Trout in person, though.

The top of the fifth featured an odd appeal play (to be discussed below), but nothing else. The Angels loaded the based in the bottom, but brought no one in. For the first time in the game, the Mariners went down in order in the sixth, and Anaheim only managed a leadoff single. The M's went in order again in the seventh, as did the Angels. In the eighth, Seattle got first and third with two out, but stranded them both, and the Angels went in order, even with a leadoff single, thanks to a double-play.

The good news for the Angels in the top of the ninth was that they struck out the side. The bad news was the two-out homer to left field that put Seattle up 4-3. However, the Angels started the bottom of the ninth with a triple. With one-out, a sacrifice fly to left brought in the tying run, but a strikeout ended the inning. And, thanks to soulless automatons in charge of the game, that was the end of the game, with another godless goddamn tie, 4-4.

The Scorecard: 

Mariners vs., Angels, 03/15/16. No one won in 4-4 tie.

The scorecard was the centerfold over the oversized full-color magazine of the $3 program. While it was on glossy paper, it was easy enough to write on, even with the pencils, if prone to smudging quite easily. The scorecard itself--due to the dimensions of the program and the lack of advertising--was quite spacious, even for a Spring Training game.

There were a lot of things of note, not just the godless communism of the tie score at which it ended. There were a whopping seven doubles in the contest, a tag-out 6-5 putout in the bottom of the first, and a 1-3-6 CS rundown in the top of the third.

But obviously, the story of the game was an overly complicated appeal play and error in the top of the fifth. With one out and a runner on first, the batter flew out to left. The left fielder casually tossed the ball to the stands thinking it was two outs before the catch (E7), but the runner from first just went straight to third without tagging up (illegal). The pitcher appealed to first before the first pitch to the next batter, and he was called out on appeal AP 1-3 for the third out of the inning. It was one of the few appeals I've run into in any of the games I've seen in person.

The Accommodations: 

Nothing much on the “home” front. The manager wrote me back to say that housekeeping doesn't clean rooms at 11 PM at night. I told him the room number and the time they cleaned and told him to get back to me when he was done lying.

Click here to see all the pictures from this trip.

2016 Cactus League