Queens

On Yin and Yang

Not Shea Stadium, 2022

Saturday, April 16, 2022
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. New York Metropolitans
Not Shea Stadium
MLB National League
Queens, NY
7:10 PM 

Outside the Game:

I had a fitful sleep the night before, struggling mightily against my alarm that morning. I had my clothes all laid out for days--I was trying out the Jomboy Media Shea Station blitzball jersey for luck appraisal--but even with the prep work, I eventually left a lot later than I expected, taking a Lyft to get to the subway at around 9:30 AM. I hit a string of good luck, quickly getting a PATH train to 33rd Street, and an orange up to the 7, although I just missed an outbound 7 going to Queens. Even this early, several Mets fans were shifting around half-awake, awaiting the next train that pulled up in due time and had us heading Queensward in the Saturday morning.

I was dumped out about a half-hour before the gates were to open. I, of course, immediately went to the new Tom Seaver statue, dominating the plaza outside the home plate entrance. I'm not saying that the remarkable performance of the Metropolitan starting pitching so far this year is due to finally giving Seaver his due, but I am not saying it isn't. The statue is everything that it should be, and it is defines the stark contrast of having an owner who is a fan of the team and owners that were fans of a team that jilted the city a half-century ago.

The give-away was a replica of the aforementioned statue, so it was going to be a big crowd. Walking around to the various entrances, I found that the right-field entrance had a line of just a several dozen people, while also having the virtue of being close to Shake Shack. I parked up there with about twenty minutes to go and then amused myself on my phone until the gates opened up and I got my precious trinket.

The way out was more sedate, but I took another look at the statue before heading onto the trains back to Manhattan. A couple of quick transfers got me back to Hoboken, where it fell apart. Lyft had few drivers running, and not wanting to give those bastard Hoboken taxi drivers another penny of my money, I just decided to hoof it back to my apartment, calling my mother to pass the time. And thus a mostly disappointing day ended.

The Stadium & Fans:

Center to home, Not Shea Stadium

So, the obvious big change was the statue out in front, which we covered. I'll talk about some concession changes below, but there were other little cosmetic differences around the park. The M&Ms were removed (due to some expiring partnership, I imagine), a "Hit It Here" sign for the lottery appeared in right field, and a Home Run Apple home run counter (which did get to tick over during the game) showed up in left field. The home lineup at the top of the Jackie Robinson rotunda changed from replica baseball cards (which I really liked) to a digital display (which I guess was okay). A lot of smaller digital displays found there way around the park, and they were coordinated for things like home player introductions, or--in a much more Orwellian fashion--during advertisements. At one point, a DraftKings promo urged people on every screen in the park to place a bet during the game, which no doubt had Shoeless Joe Jackson spinning in his grave enough to potentially affect the rotation of the planet.

The crowd was big and boisterous, but it had little to cheer for until the late innings, when they got loud if out of boredom of something to do. Mr. and (regrettably) Mrs. Met were on hand for most of it, doing their pre-game shenanigans and then shooting t-shirts into the crowd and leading sing-alongs. Not a ton had changed there.

At the Game with Oogie:

Home Run Apple Ice Cream

With social distancing rules but a memory, the stadium was completely packed in this second home game of the year and the first weekend game after the unveiling of the Seaver statue, even though it was the day before Easter and deep in the heart of Passover. I gained entry early enough that crowds weren't too much of an issue. I immediately made my way back to Shake Shack, which had over the last year completely colonized the center-field concession spot it had shared until recently with Blue Smoke. I was able to walk right up to the counter and have my order nearly immediately, and claimed a small circular table to have my repast, while taking my new Seaver statue replica into my observation.

Thus filled, I made my way back to the front of the park to make my pilgrimage to the museum. It had a new exhibit on the 60th anniversary on the Metropolitans, and then I made the small lateral move to the store, which had been reorganized in the offseason. I made a bunch of ill-considered purchases, and then found that the line for the registers actually snaked back into the museum. Despite the length of the line, it moved swiftly and efficiently, and I was out into the rotunda in under five minutes.

I took a trip up to the club level. Signs for the long-forgotten "Ceasar's Club" were still in the stairwells, but it was now the True Premium Vodka Lounge, sponsored--for some incomprehensible reason--by Mike Piazza, complete with prominent Italian flag. Because when I think of vodka, I think of Italy. I continued my walk around the park, eventually seeing Mr. and Mrs. Met in the back of center field and then retreated back to the lounge an hour or so before the game. I purchased the new Home Run Apple ice cream and a souvenir soda and settled into my seat behind third base.

The area was packed. A young Asian couple was immediately to my left, where the woman was clearly the baseball fan and the boyfriend spent most of the game texting his friends and making car stereo purchases on his phone. A pair of Indian friends were to my right, making frequent long trips for beers while bravely leaving their Seaver statue replicas unguarded under their seats. Families were in front and behind me, a pair of fraternal twins scoring in front of me, and a young girl and her brother warred for most of the game behind me with no Metropolitans offense to distract them.

The Game:

First pitch, Diamondbacks vs. Metropolitans

The Metropolitans were looking good so far this year, but their losses had all contained around three things: poor defense, a pause in the offense, and the implosion of the at-best shaky bullpen. All three were on display today in this game against the Diamondbacks, a team with one player batting over .200 at the start of the game.

The game was lethargic for the first half. Arizona went in order in the first, and the Mets only managed a walk. The Diamondbacks stranded a single in the second, and so did New York. Arizona went in order in the third, while the Metropolitans stranded another single.

The middle innings didn't have much else happening, either. Carasco worked out of a top of the fourth with a single and double leaving second and third with no outs, intentionally walking the only decent Diamondback's hitter to load the bases for a player batting 0.000. New York went in order in the bottom of the frame. Arizona just had a walk and a stolen base to show for the fifth, while in the bottom half, the Mets erased another hit batsman with a double-play. The D-backs went in order in the sixth, while New York stranded a leadoff walk.

Things finally got moving in the last third of the game. The top of the seventh started with a leadoff single for Arizona, and then after a pitching change, the bullpen finally lived up to form and gave up a two-run homer to the lightest of hitting shortstops. A two-out walk was followed by a misplayed and lollygagged double that scored another run, leaving Arizona with a 3-0 lead. The Metropolitans limped through the bottom of the inning with a single to show for it. The Diamondbacks just had a single in the top of the eighth, and then it looked like New York finally remembered the team that they were for a second. A one-out single was followed by a no-doubter homer to left. Lindor walked the tying run to first, bringing Big Meat Pete to the plate, but his scorcher was right to the shortstop, leading to a double-play to end the inning--and rally--at 3-2 Diamondbacks. Arizona threatened again in the ninth, with back-to-back one-out singles. A two-out intentional walk loaded the bases before a strikeout ended the threat. The Mets, not rising to the moment, went weakly 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth, leaving the final tally 3-2 Arizona.

The Scorecard:

Diamondbacks vs. Metropolitans, 4/16/22. Diamondbacks won, 3-2

I used the $6 program scorecard again, which wasn't much changed from the previous year: cardstock paper in the centerfold with no ads. There were twelve player lines with room for substitutes (less an issue with universal DH [boo]) with AB, R, H, and RBI totals, and twelve inning lines with R/H splits. There were six pitching lines for each team, and totals for Double Plays, Doubles, Triples, Home Runs, Errors, and Left on Base.

A lot of things of note. Alonzo had a sterling play in the top of the third to save a single, looking like a water buffalo trying to dodge a bullet. The Mets lined back to the pitcher in the bottom of the fifth, who was able to double-up the runner at first and kill an incipient rally. Also worth noting is the misplay in the seventh that gave Arizona the insurance run they needed. Marte misplayed a double (by Marte--conspiracy?) and that got across what would be the deciding run of the game.

To really underline the ineffectiveness of the Mets' offense, no less than three Diamondbacks had golden sombreros this game, and they still won. Mets' starting pitching: 5 innings, 3 hits, no runs, 8 Ks. Mets' relievers: 4 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 8 Ks. Just kill me.

The Accommodations:
Back in my non-mandatory isolated apartment in Jersey City

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

Stand-Alone Trip, 2022

Scottsdale (Diamondbacks)

On Indian Territory

Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, 2016

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Cincinnati Reds vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Salt River Fields at Talking Stick
Cactus League (Spring Training)
Scottsdale, AZ
7:05 PM

Outside the Game: 

A rare-ish evening game provided me with a day to go and visit all the things I'd found out about over the course of the trip and hadn't had the opportunity to see. So I was still up at my normal time, getting my breakfast and taking my morning constitutional.

My first stop was in town at the Mesa Historical Museum, which was touted in nearly every program for its history of the Cactus League and Cactus League Hall of Fame. While those exhibits were there and interesting, my big find was an exhibit they had on local kids show, The Wallace and Ladmo Show. It seemed a local fixture a lot like Wonderama or Magic Garden, and it was an enjoyable look into so many locals' childhoods.

Cactus League Hall of Fame

My next stop was an area outside of town called "Apache Junction." Not only a bad-assed name for a place, it was the home to a lot of Western-related memorabilia, so I was determined to check it out. After several false starts due to GPS issues, I made it out to my first stop, the Superstition Mountain Museum. It was a decidedly old-school museum, mixing overly dramatic animal-skin dioramas, to an exhibit on the different types of barbed wire, to local Native petrogylphs that a farmer's wife had insisted be brought into her yard. I suppose it is better than them being destroyed, but the white guilt was flowing pretty heavy here. There was also a ton on the lost Flying Dutchman mine, and although I had obviously heard about it before, I didn't really put two and two together until I was actually at the place that this was the heart of that mystery. There was obviously a great deal about the various theories and whatnot, and I did end up buying a book on the subject in the gift shop.

DRAMA!

Also present was the remains of the Apache Movieland Ranch. The ranch was the place where they filmed hundreds of Westerns when they didn't just do it on a back lot. The original ranch was some distance from its current location, but had a fire and the lot burned down. The remains had been brought to the Superstition Mountain Museum. It was neat seeing all the old sets, as well as the Apache Movieland Walk of Fame in the big barn. While I was walking out to the remains of the Boot Hill, there were two things I noticed. One was the rattlesnake warning signs everywhere that had me a good bit on edge. I spend the rest of my visit not stepping anywhere that I couldn’t see completely. The other was that while standing in the beautiful desolation of the desert mountain, if I closed my eyes, I could actually feel the water being pulled out my system by the air.

Apacheland barn

After getting my fill there, I went to drive up to the Goldfield Ghost Town up the road. I stopped at a hole in the wall burger stand along the road for some lunch. While waiting for my burger, two people drove up for lunch that I was to find worked at the Ghost Town. We talked while I ate, and it is so rare that you have a nice conversation between people who have nothing in common, but we did, and it was indeed nice.

Ghost Town

I went up the road to the Ghost Town, which was a tourist trap place of souvenir stores, Wild West brothel tours, mine tours, and shooting galleries. I loved it, and spent way too much money in the gift shops. They had a bullet knife, for the love of god. That was a bullet that they had made into a knife. How can you not buy that?

Eventually, it was time to head back for the game, so I drove back to the hotel, swapped out my souvenirs for my game bag, and drove out to the field. Even as early as I was, I ended up in a very far parking lot, but at least it was close to the exit. After the game, it was a bit of a walk to my car, but I was out the complex in a flash and back to the hotel for a night of proving out my scorecard and an early bedtime.

The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick

Salt River Fields at Talking Stick is the only stadium in the Cactus League that is actually on Native American land, and is also the newest stadium in the league, built to draw back the Rockies and D-Backs from far-off Tuscon to get all the teams within a half-hour of each other. It also gives the Arizona Diamondbacks the shortest Spring Training commute in the majors (35 minutes, beating out the Rays and Marlins in Florida, who are an hour and an hour and a half, respectively). While in Scottsdale on paper, the stadium is on reservation land, right across the road from the Talking Stick Casino and Resort, also under tribal control.

The park is actual a sprawling complex, split fairly down the middle between the Diamondbacks and the Rockies, and in all places interwoven with the tribal history and imagery. For example, all the practice fields have significant Native names (such as "Jackrabbit" or "Whirlwind") with descriptions on how it relates to the tribes. The tribes' basket pattern is featured in the light rig supports around the stadium. The entire park is surrounded by a nature walk with descriptions of tribal views on land stewardship, as well as a "Circle of Honor" commemorating tribal war veterans in the context of a tribal gathering area.

The split in the park between teams is present in all things. There are two "neutral" entrances to the park: the main home plate entrance by the main ticket window, and the smaller center field entrance, both adorned with statuary and fountains and plaques about the tribes. The left field entrance is the Diamondbacks' branded gate. A long ramp leads up to the gate, overlooking the batting cages on the practice fields, with a timeline of the D-Backs history. Beyond the third-base side of the park is the extensive minor-league complex, with practice fields and other facilities where fans can watch the practices and scope for autographs. The D-Backs home dugout is also on the third-base side, and their team store is in the left field corner. The right field entrance is the Rockies branded entrance. Their ramp is more slogans and months of the year, culminating in—god help us all--"Rocktober." Similarly, their practice facilities are beyond the first-base side of the park, their home dugout is on first, and their team store is in the right field corner.

Wherever you enter, you are dumped onto the giant main promenade that circles the park. Stairs in the outfield corners connect the higher outfield walkway with the lower and smaller walkway in the seating bowl that separates the lower from the upper seats. The promenade runs along top of the upper seating area and hosts all the concessions. At intervals in the infield area, the promenade expands into alcoves where larger concession stands live. The lower walkway is anchored by two specialty stands, the Budweiser Bowtie in left and the Salty Seniority in right. The team stores are located in the outfield corners, just down from the team offices.

There are regular stadium seats in all the seating areas, and the entire outfield is one large picnic berm under the name of the "Banana Boat Lawn." An extensive second level rises above the lower area from short outfield to short outfield behind home plate and houses many different luxury boxes, press areas, and party area, all directly and mercifully under the shade overhangs. The gigantic video board sits in left-center, and many other auxiliary boards circle the field to give everyone an update on the game. The stadium even features a real-live organ situated on the promenade behind home plate. It is near a display on Native American baseball and how happy everyone is about the partnership between the tribes, the Rockies, and the D-Backs. A full-sized Wiffle ball field is along the baselines and had a pretty big line to play some ball before the main game started.

Baxter the Bobcat can't be bothered to make the half hour drive for Spring Training, and the between-inning entertainment is decidedly minor league, even if the park itself isn't. Every game is a sellout given the locale so close to the major-league club and that it is the newest stadium in town, and the fans do seem as interested in the game as the Spring Training vacation close to home.

At the Game with Oogie: 

Specialty burger and fries

There were a cornucopia of food options at the park. I started with a brat and a souvenir soda, and then moved on to a "New York" burger and fries to top things off.

I had a seat on the lower level just beyond third base and the auxiliary "safety netting" that was springing up at parks this year. I was seated next to two friends who were taking in Spring Training as a vacation from their wives. They were quite amenable company, and were interested in my scoring. Perhaps most interestingly, they were going to attempt seeing a "triple header" the next day. They were going to a morning game back at this stadium, a 4 PM start at the Cubs, and then were going to a night game. I can't imagine they were going to see all of the three games, but I can't help but support their bravado. God’s speed, fair travelers.

The Game: 

First pitch, Reds vs. Diamondbacks

This will not go down as a pitcher’s duel, but there were some surprising down times in this erstwhile slugfest.

The Reds started the game slowly, with just a single in between two strikeouts to show for the first. The D-Backs, however, came out swinging, with a leadoff double followed by two short singles to bring in a run, and a two-out single to left to bring in another, leaving it at 2-0 Arizona after one.

Cincinnati went in order in the second, but the Diamondback's half of the inning would go on significantly longer. Back-to-back doubles started the inning, bringing in the first run of the half. A single followed to drive in the runner from second, and a wild pitch got him to scoring position. A short single got him to third, and a stolen base made it second and third with no outs and two in. Another short single to center scored the runner from third and moved everyone up, and an error on the play by the right fielder brought in another run and moved the trailing runner to second. The starting pitcher was finally chased, but the new guy allowed a walk made it first and second with no out and four in. A double scored the runner from second and left it second and third with still no outs. But three straight strikeouts finally ended the inning at 7-0, Diamondbacks.

The Reds got a runner to second in the top of third with a walk and a bunt, but he was stranded. The D-Backs finally went in order in their half. The Reds started the fourth with a double that moved to third on a fly-out to deep right. A two-out single brought him in, making the score 7-1. Arizona came back in their half with a leadoff single that made it to second on a ground-out to second, and then driven in by a one-out double to left. A two-out single to left-center brought in the runner from second, but he got greedy and got nailed by the left-fielder trying to stretch it to a double, leaving it 9-1 Diamondbacks after four.

A leadoff walk was gifted to the Reds in the fifth, and a yip by the pitcher made it first and second with no outs. The lead runner made it to third on a double-play ball to second, and a two-out single brought him in, closing it to 9-2 D-Backs. The Diamondbacks scattered some stranded baserunners in the bottom of the inning, but nothing came across, and the top of the sixth had one single for the Reds and nothing else. In the bottom of the frame, the D-Backs managed just a walk.

The Reds bats woke up in the seventh, starting with a one-out single to left. A triple to right brought him in, and a walk followed. A homer to right brought in three runs, making it a more respectable 9-6 for the home team. The D-backs got one back in the bottom half with a leadoff single that made it to third on a throw from the second baseman into the stands. An infield grounder brought in the run and wasn't in time to get him at first, but a double-play ended the inning at 10-6, D-Backs. Cincinnati led off the eighth with a double, but he made it to third on a ground-out and no further. The D-Backs also had a double to start the eighth, but he was erased on an L-4-4 double-play when he couldn't get back fast enough.

The D-Backs struck out the side in the top of the ninth to secure the 10-6 win.

The Scorecard: 

Reds vs. Diamondbacks, 03/16/16. Diamondbacks"win," 10-6.

The scorecard was part of a reasonably priced $2 full-color tabloid program on magazine paper. The scorecard was the full-page centerfold spread with plenty of room for scoring. While it was on magazine paper, it was reasonable for pencil writing, although it smudged a lot. Rosters were not available for handout due to "eco concerns," and were just available at a single table. However, with the super-gee-wiz scoreboard they had at the park, it was less of a concern.

While there was a ton of activity in this high-scoring game, there were no really unusual plays outside of the L-4-4 double-play in the bottom of the eighth. Because of double-switches, I had to use two letter indicators for the D-Backs and one for the Reds to keep the scorecard neat. The high scoring led to both starting pitchers getting pulled in innings after not getting an out, the Reds' starter going 1+ IP (with a disastrous 9 H 7 ER 0 BB 1 K) and the D-Backs first tosser going 4+ IP (with a much more reasonable 3 H 2 ER 2 BB 6 K). Thirteen total pitchers were used in the game, which was behind most of my scorecard manipulations.

The Accommodations: 

As it was a night game, there wasn't much activity on the hotel front after the morning. I did exchange emails with the new manager again, who finally admitted to housekeeping cleaning the room above mine at 11 PM due to a late checkout and apologized. I told him it wasn't accepted.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2016 Cactus League

Glendale (Dodgers)

On Heading West

A crowded Terminal C

Friday, March 4, 2016
Phoenix, AZ

Outside the Game:

With the leftover vacation days that I had to use or lose before June, and thanks to the Mets World Series tickets taking up a good chunk of my discretionary income for a planned Australia trip, I decided to repeat my performance of 2015 by going to the other Spring Training league, the Cactus League in Arizona.

The Cactus League had a good deal going for it, in that they had consolidated all the teams into the "Greater Phoenix Area," so that the furthest apart teams were within forty minutes. This was both good and bad. It was good because I could pick one hotel and stay there for the entire trip without changing up. The bad was that every fan for every team was trying to stay in the same forty-minute wide area, which meant that hotel and rental car costs were higher than in Florida.

The short driving distance meant no three-hour+ halls from one stadium to the other that made going to a game a day such a pain in Florida, but it was offset by the fact that there wasn't all that much to do in Arizona if you don't like golf or Native casino gambling. You get the good with the bad. I had planned out this trip rather extensively during the end of the last year. And by March, I was ready to go.

I had planned out my coverage for work as best as possible and made it quite clear that I was going to be gone on time this Friday to make my plane. I was scheduled to land a little after 11 PM MT, which wasn't too bad, as I could probably still be in bed by 1 AM.

There was thankfully no issue leaving work, and none in the travel to the airport. I got through security, upgraded my boarding, and had some dinner. And, of course, I got the first delay notice for my flight as soon as I made it to the gate. But, it turned out to be the last one, and we were in the air just a half hour later than expected.

I spent most of the flight asleep, which I realize was a bad idea, but I was exhausted and on a plane, so what else could I do? I didn't download the United app before I boarded the plane, so I couldn't watch any of the tablet-based entertainment, and I wasn't interested in whatever was on the seat-back screens. I bought Internet at some point to pass the time and look at funny cat pictures, but the trip passed fairly quickly when we landed at 11:30 PM or so.

Chevy Trax. The "x" is for... something.

I had to go get my rental car, which turned out to be a Grey Chevy Trax, which was about all I could hope for. As long as they didn't saddle me with a SUV or something similar for two weeks, at least I was in the right car category. I got my GPS working and drove out to the hotel after a short drive, and checked in.

The hotel staff were waiting for me, and he greeted me by name, because I was the only guest who hadn't checked in yet. He got me my room key, and I dropped all my crap in my room, but more on that follows.

The Accommodations: 

La Quinta Inn Arcadia

So, I was at the La Quinta Inn Arcadia, and let me start with the spoiler that this experience--coupled with some other bad experiences with La Quinta--has placed them on my "never again" list. The room itself seemed nice enough. The bathroom was right off the entrance to the room on the left, with a functional, if un-fancy tub, toilet, and sink.

My bedroom had my king-sized bed on one side of the room with end tables, and on the other wall was my desk, the dresser with TV on top, and the microwave and refrigerator. The AC was already on, and everything on the surface looked fine. As I was getting ready for bed, I flipped one of the pillows and found that it had a huge stain on it. After closer inspection of the rest of the room, I found a lot of evidence of uncleaned stains and the like that left me skeeved. I checked all the remaining pillows, and put the soiled one off the bed, and I was too tired to do anything but sleep on the bed after checking it rather thoroughly.

On the Unfortunate Reality of Dodgers Fans

Camelback Ranch, 2016

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Camelback Ranch
Cactus League (Spring Training)
Glendale, AZ
1:05 PM

Outside the Game: 

My day began with my being awakened by the staff setting up for breakfast service. The "room" opposite of my own was apparently used as a makeshift pantry, and so when they were setting up breakfast in the room just past the public bathrooms from my room, they tended to slam the door a lot. I greeted them with shouting at them to stop slamming the damn doors so much at 6 AM and offered to show them how a doorstop worked if they weren't aware. I felt a little bad for the clearly teenage kid who was doing most of the work, but not that bad.

The slamming stopped for a while, and I got some more sleep before waking up again to yell at the front desk staff for the disgusting state of some of my bedding and the room. I also asked to be moved to a different room. They apologized all over the place about the condition of the room, and promised to have everything fixed this afternoon, but they regretted to inform me that they were full up and I could not be moved. As you might imagine, this brightened my mood considerably.

I stomped into breakfast to find a standard breakfast buffet. There were bagels and bread for toasting, a waffle maker, a cereal bar, and one table of hot things, which this first morning was sausage and biscuits and gravy, which actually did help to brighten my mood a little. I needed to get some Crazy Glue for my disassembling glasses, and I was told by the front desk that the gas station mart across the street was probably the closest place. I trudged out into the surprisingly pleasant Arizona morning to the gas station to get my glue and some water.

Even in the morning, the Arizona atmosphere just sucks moisture out of you. Yes, yes, all that about "dry heat," but it really should be called "desiccating heat." On the way back, I noticed that the strip of land between the hotel and the gas station was actually a park, but I was more interested in getting back to my room for a shower and some more sleep this morning.

And I did so. My first stop this Spring was at the Dodgers. I'm not sure subconsciously if I did it to get it out of the way, but between my first, last, and only visit to their stadium, and the playoff animosity last year, I just wanted to get in and get out. The game was between the local D-Backs and Dodgers, who apparently come to Spring Training in droves east across the desert, and when I drove to the park several hours early, I already had to go into a back lot. I parked up and headed to the practice fields, which required an extensive bag check to get in, because, the attendant told me, that the Dodgers fans like to sneak in a lot of booze.

The walk around the practice complex in the fading Arizona morning was quite nice, actually, and I did all my pictures and then went into the stadium. Or at least I thought I did. The first gate that opens only lets you into a vestibule with some concessions and a small team store. But it does let you line up early at the actual entrance by the main entrance, which was important, because by the time the gates really opened, there was quite a crowd behind me.

After the game, getting out of the park was a bit of an adventure. There was a long line of cars to get out of the lot, and the Dodgers fans passed their time by openly drinking while waiting to drive out. And we're not talking about just the passengers. The drivers would be passing beer and bottles of hard alcohol between themselves and the cars next to them. It was the most brazen drunken driving that I had seen, and I was someone who was alive in the 70s.

Needless to say, I was driving defensively until I was quite far from the park. But thanks to the proximity, I was able to get back to the hotel relatively quickly. Being stuck in that room, not trusting its cleanliness, and being in the same place for two weeks, I decided to drive down the road from my hotel to a CVS and pick up a bunch of cleaning and stationary supplies. I stopped at an Arby's I passed for dinner, and then I went back to the room and gave it a thorough cleaning and de-smellification, as well as setting up my paperwork machine for the next two weeks.

Exhausted from the lack of sleep and dealing with Dodgers fans, I made it an early night.

The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, Camelback Ranch

Outside of their unfortunate association with the Dodgers, Camelback Ranch has a lot going for it. The relatively new facility is from the 101 section of the new Spring Training handbook. The main stadium is part of a huge campus of practice facilities and parking lots that encircle the main park. From the main entrance in center field, there is an artificial lake that runs the length of the facility that separates the White Sox and Dodgers practice facilities and fields. Unlike most other parks, it even lacks a main marquee, with the main entrance being close to the ground.

The main entrance plaza at the end of the lake has two sections. The outer plaza has a team store and the main ticket booth. The inner plaza opens up first before the game and is a tree-lined area with a lot of benches and some merchandise and concessions, as well as signs pointing to all the White Sox and Dodgers affiliates. It lets you line up early at either one of the entrances that lead out in left or right field. The only other entrance is a VIP/ADA entrance towards third base.

Outside of the park has a lot going on, and most of it is Dodgers-related. On the Dodgers practice field side of things, there is a small replica of the Dodgers Stadium street sign from the home park, as well as a giant bobble-head Tommy Lasorda holding his Hall of Fame plaque. All along the trail around the training fields are lists of all the Dodgers All-Stars by position, and giant baseballs with all the Dodgers Hall of Famers. The White Sox practice fields do not have anything similar.

Once inside the actual park, the entrances empty out onto a main promenade that circles the park above the seating bowl. As with most Spring Training parks, there is just one seating area that runs from short outfield to short outfield behind home plate. That seating area is split up by another walkway between the lower and upper areas. Two picnic berms in left and right field allow general admission seating, and the digital video board rises up in right-center field. The White Sox and offices are in the right field bullpen and corner, and the Dodgers are in the left field bullpen and corner. The "Mojito Patio" is in right field. A second level rises above behind home plate from dugout to dugout, with party decks, luxury boxes, and the press box.

The place was absolutely packed, and given that their opponent was Phoenix's own D-Backs, the fact that they Dodgers fans dominated numerically is even more impressive. They were into the game, in their own fashion, even if it took until the fourth inning to fill up the park. There was full docket of between-inning races and other frivolities, and Tommy Lasorda made an appearance, so it wasn't all that bad.

At the Game with Oogie: 

Dodger Dog

I had seats on the third-base Dodgers home side of the field, just pass the base and a couple of rows back. In keeping with the Dodgers tradition, most of the seats in this section were open for most of the early innings, and then emptied out again in the later innings. Once a Dodgers fan, always a Dodgers fans, even in training. I suppose they were training to get there late and leave early at Chavez Ravine.

Most of the fans around weren't too objectionable, being in the pricey seats, but I did have a moment of silence for those people on the picnic berm. I can't imagine what was going on out there. I was next to an extended family of Dodgers fans, and an older brother was right next to me and recognized the hat. After my first visit to Dodgers Stadium, I was a little worried, but he was good-natured about it, and said that they would get us this year.

No, buddy, you "wok off."

While I was stuck in the vestibule before the gates opened, I got an always-disappointing Dodgers dog, and once inside I followed it up with a chicken-rice box at the culturally sensitive "Wok Off."

The Game: 

First pitch, Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers

My first face-off this Spring was between the home-town Diamondbacks, and the not-too-far-away Dodgers. This game stayed tied a lot longer than the score would suggest, having fallen apart only in the late innings of the meaningless game.

In the first, Arizona went 1-2-3 in one of the more unusual ways possible, with a two-out double that got erased trying to steal third. The Dodgers, on the other hand, came out scoring, with two singles to lead off the game and leave it first and third with no outs. A sacrifice fly to center brought in the lead run, but a double-play after a walk ended the scoring at 1-0 Dodgers. The D-Backs went in order in the second in a more conventional way, while LA turned three straight one-out singles into another run to extend the lead to 2-0.

The Diamondbacks came alive in the third with a walk immediately driven home a deep double to left. An error on a pickoff throw from the pitcher got him to third, and a sacrifice fly to center tied the game up at two. The Dodgers went in order the next three innings, while Arizona stranded a two-out triple in the fourth, went in order in the fifth, and stranded another man on third in the sixth after a leadoff double made it to third on another blown pickoff throw.

Things change in the bottom of the sixth. The Dodgers started off with a leadoff double to right. A walk followed, and the D-Backs traded the runner going to third for a double-play. Another double to center drove him in, however, and then a homer to left drove in two more. Another two-out single followed, and another double brought him in before final ground-out, opening it up to a 6-2 lead for the home team. Arizona managed only one baserunner again in the top of the seventh, but in the bottom of the frame, the Dodgers did everything possible not to score. Two walks and a short single loaded the bases, but a double-play ended the threat.

The Diamondbacks stranded two runs in the top of the eighth, but LA tacked another run on with a leadoff homer to deep center. Arizona limped in order in the top of the ninth, and the Dodgers (and their drunken fans) celebrated their pointless 7-2 win.

The Scorecard: 

Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers, 03/05/16. Dodgers "win," 7-2.

The Dodgers-branded scorecard was a series of ups and downs. On one hand, it was part of a mini-tabloid full-color program. On the other, the program was free, and the middle centerfold with the scorecard was on cardstock, for easy writing with pencil. On one hand, it had tiny scoring boxes and wasn't suited at all for a Spring Training game. On the other, at least there wasn't advertisements taking up even more space, and at the least the baserunning and extra base hits stats were relevant to the game.

The game was mostly straightforward, but there were some plays of note. In the top of the first, some runner violated the cardinal rule of everything by making the third out getting caught stealing third base, 2-5. In the bottom of the second, a single to right led to an outfield assist on a CS 9-2-4 as the late throw home went straight back to second as the batter tried to extend the single to a double. With bases loaded in the bottom the seventh, there was the organizationally pleasing 1-2-3 double play. The pitcher the fateful sixth inning for the D-Backs had the unfortunate pitching line of .6 IP 5 H 4 ER 1 BB 0 SO 1 HR.

The Accommodations: Outside of my righteous tantrum about the sorry state of the bedclothes, I didn't end up changing rooms because nothing else was available. This would be an evil harbinger of what was to come for the trip.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2016 Cactus League