Phoenix

On The Sort of Thing That Puts a Damper Even on a Cubs Win

Maryvale Baseball Park, 2016

Friday, March 18, 2016

Cincinnati Reds vs. Milwaukee Brewers
Maryvale Baseball Park
Catcus League (Spring Training)
Phoenix, AZ
1:05 PM

Outside the Game: 

The day began okay. I didn't get woken up by either the setup for breakfast or the people leaving for the Grand Canyon tour, so I was in a pretty good place as I got my breakfast (supplemented with no-working pancake machine) and went out for my walk in the park. There were more dogs than average this morning, and there were only one or two tweakers out.

I even had a short drive to the ballpark, as I would be going to Phoenix proper. An easy day was looking especially good, as I was getting pulled a little thin by everything as the trip started to sputter to an end. Yes sir, that's all I needed was a nice, easy day.

After a lazy morning, I drove out to the park and took my pictures and killed time until it was time to line up to get in. The main entrance was packed, so I went around to the other side, and I was the first person lined up in front of the secondary gate, in the blessed shade. After a decent wait, the gate was going to open in five minutes, and I got a call on my cell phone. This is usually not good. It is either my parents with bad news or my work with bad news or my landlord with bad news. But I had told my Dad I was going to call him later that day, and it turned out to be him, so I wasn't really expecting anything except telling him that I would call him after the game.

And then he told me my uncle died.

The youngest of the children in his family, my uncle had a heart attack the year before, but he was working on it, and there was nothing too immediately worrying about the situation. Except that he had another heart attack in the middle of the night and died.

I was cycling through the five stages of grief pretty quickly, but then the gates opened, and I was in the way, and I had to go in. So I numbly gave the usher my ticket and went in, and tried to work out what to do. After getting some pertinent information, I told my Dad I'd call him later, and I went about watching a game I suddenly wasn't too interested in. I was writing this up for the Website I freelance for, so I couldn’t just bail. But I could just go through the motions.

After the game, I went back to my hotel and called my parents again. There was nothing to be done, and the wake wouldn't be until after I was home, but I now had to call work and tell them that after two weeks on vacation, I was going to have to take two days off for my uncle's wake and funeral, and the thought crossed my mind that they might not believe me.

This was the afternoon I was going to mail all of my accumulated crap back to myself. When I did the Spring Training trip last year, I had the added benefit of having my parents to cart back all the accumulated cups and whatnot of my travels back with them instead of me. On my own in Arizona this time, I settled on just mailing all my knick-knacks back to myself. I had bought office supplies earlier on, and I had been filling up the two medium boxes I had as I went. I drove them down the road to the Fed Ex place and mailed them to myself, after exchanging lame jokes with the guy behind the counter about the "Indian pot" that I was insuring. (Because I had Native American pottery, and it was funnier when you called it “Indian pot,” and I really wasn’t in the mood for joking, either.)

I got back in my car and went to the Honey Bears by the airport and ordered a lot of food. A lot of food. And then I stopped at a liquor store and bought a small bottle of something. I think it was Jameson. And I responsibly parked my car, changed into my bathing suit, and went out to the hot tub with my bottle of something and my BBQ.

And I ate my food and drank my booze in the hot tub. And people came, and I gave them some booze and some BBQ, and eventually other people brought more booze, and it was a whole thing. The maintenance guy came by one time, but when he saw it was me and it wasn't out of control, he went on his way.

I don't remember much, but it got me through the evening, and I didn't ruin the hot tub--or at least it wasn't ruined when I left--and I dragged my ass back to my room and passed out.

The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, Maryvale Baseball Park

Maryvale Baseball Park is the only Cactus League park that is actually within the borders of Phoenix proper, as opposed to all of its many suburbs. And apparently this area of Phoenix was a crime-ridden mess until recently, when the park was a cornerstone of the redevelopment efforts. And it is not a bad park, except that it feels decided low-minors as opposed to some of the newer palace parks, without the historical gravitas of the older parks to back it up.

The park is in a residential and commercial area, revealed by the fact that the beyond the outfield wall is a trucking company depot. I did meet a nice feral cat out there, however. The main entrance plaza follows the minor-league model of being wedged between the team store and the ticket booths. Two more (largely disused) entrances are on the other side of the park, furthest away from the parking lots. Across the street from the main entrance are the practice fields where you can hang out and get autographs.

All the entrances dump off onto a main promenade that circles the park above the one seating area. It is regular ballpark seats behind home plate and to the dugouts, then bleachers until the short outfield, and a grass picnic hill is the outfield. The concessions are all on the top of the promenade, so with the exception of the food court area behind home plate, you can grab grub while still watching the game. The downside is that the promenade isn't very wide, so at the entrance and the popular concessions stands, it gets backed up pretty quickly.

An abbreviated second level of press and luxury boxes rises above right behind home plate, providing some welcome shade for those under it. The rest of the main seating area is "protected" by slated overhangs that only provide partial shade until the shadow gets really long. The main digital scoreboard sits out in left-center, and especially for a newer park , it is decidedly a low-tech affair without video.

The Brewers are one of the lightest draws in the Cactus League, and this Friday afternoon game was certainly indicative of that, with the main seating area thinly filled and a few hardy souls risking the mid-day sun on the picnic hill. Bernie doesn't come south, but the Sausage Race does, to the great joy of the crowd, but there were few other between-inning activities of a more average nature.

That said, the fans that were there were there because of the team, so there's something to be said for that.

At the Game with Oogie: 

Braaaat

One thing that I can't take away from the park were the food options. This was no kidding around Milwaukee's best. A brat was a given, as was a container of cheese curds. Klement's Meat Sticks were also on offer for a buck, so that happened.

Cheese curds and meat stick... because

I was only able to get a seat on the bleachers right beyond first base. And I baked. The desert heat was out in full effect, especially considering sunburn would be a great topper for this already crappy day. Judging by the accents, all the people around me were people from the home state down here for the Spring. They were mostly nice, but they did not appreciate me booing steroid jackass Ryan Braun, who apparently was making his first Spring Training start after his suspension and ruining a guy's life. So they can suck that up.

The Game: 

First pitch, Reds vs. Brewers

This Reds-Brewers was not a clash of the titans by any stretch of the imagination, but it kept moving at least, sparing me from being cooked alive.

Things started quickly, with the Reds getting a one-out, two-base error in the top of the first. A single brought in the run, but a grounder back to the pitcher erased the lead runner on a fielder's choice. A two-out homer then brought in two runs to make it 3-0, Reds, at the end of a half. Not to be outdone, the Brewers started with back-to-back singles to make it first and third. A double brought in a run and left it second and third with no outs. A one-out grounder to short brought in another run, but a strikeout ended the first 3-2, Reds.

The second slowed down, as the Reds went in order, and the leadoff single for the Brewers made it no further than third. The third inning began with a single bunted over second and then over to third on an error by the pitcher. A single brought him home, but a double-play ended the half 4-2, Reds. The Brewers, for their part, went in order.

The Reds stranded a leadoff double in the fourth, while the Brewers had a leadoff homer and nothing else, ending the fourth at 4-3 Reds. Cincinnati stranded two in the top of if the fifth, but the Brewers had a two-out rally, with a single that stole second and made it to third on a wild pitch. All of this was made moot by a triple that brought him home, tying us up at 4-4.

The Reds went in order in the sixth, but after a leadoff single was picked off first, Milwaukee converted a one-out double who stole third and was brought home on a sacrifice fly to right to take the lead, 5-4. The Reds tied it immediately back up in the seventh on a one-out single that stole second and was brought in by a two-out single. The Brewers made a run in the bottom of the seventh, but were foiled at every turn. A leadoff walk was erased in a double play. A two-out walk stole second and was followed by another walk and a double steal, but a strikeout ended the threat.

The eighth opened with a walk for the Reds, and one-out hit batsman made it first and second. A walk loaded the bases, and a short double brought in two runs to make it 7-5, Reds. The Brewers only mustered one walk in the bottom of the eighth, and the Reds went in order in the top of the ninth. With their last licks, Milwaukee began with a single that got to second on a passed ball. A fly to deep right got the runner to third, and a walk made it first and third with one out. A grounder to short got the runner from first, but one run scored to close it 7-6, but the last-chance pinch hitter looked at strike three to cement the pointless victory for the Reds.

The Scorecard: 

Reds vs. Brewers, 03/18/16. Reds "win," 7-6.

The scorecard was part of the $5 (going to charity) full-color magazine program. However, the centerfold scorecard wasn't on the magazine paper, but rather heavy-weight paper. There was even a full-page instructions on how to keep score. And the scorecard was nothing to sneeze at. It was a Scoremaster variant with full batting and fielding stats, with room for notes, a line score section, and a full game stats box. Although, I will say, this particular day, I was in no mood to fill out the endless stat boxes after the game.

There was a double-steal in the bottom of the seventh, I used the pitchers' spot generically in the lineup, but otherwise, it was just a deceptively high-scoring game with not a ton out of the ordinary. Double-switches had me using reference letters several times, but that was mostly it.

The Accommodations: 

My adventures at the hotel were detailed above. There was no particular drama beyond that.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2016 Cactus League

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

Scottsdale

On Actual Roadrunners

Scottsdale Stadium, 2016

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Cincinnati Reds vs. San Francisco Giants
Scottsdale Stadium
Cactus League (Spring Training)
Scottsdale, AZ
7:05 PM

Outside the Game: 

I had the first of my semi-rare night games on this Tuesday, which was good for a number of reasons. Firstly, I had some time to actually go to things during the day as opposed to the early evening, which was less conductive for getting things done. Secondly, I needed the sleep, as I was woken up extremely early by the staff setting up the breakfast service and slamming the storage door across the hall from me all goddamn morning.

It was with extreme unction that I dragged myself to breakfast. I was cheered by my post-morning walk, as there were more dogs than usual, so there was therapy petting going on. I stopped after my walk at the gas station across the street and grabbed some bottled water to take with me during the morning, which was an ongoing concern in this literal god-forsaken desert.

Eh, it will do.

I went back to my room for a short re-nap and shower, and then I headed out for some actual day activity. My first stop was the Phoenix Zoo, because zoo. This was exciting for several reasons. First--not in an exhibit, but just running around--there was a wild road runner. And while it didn't quite directly go "meep-meep," it made a noise extremely similar to that. The experience left me floored for several minutes. This was a thing that actually happened. To me. In real life. Meep-meep.

Missing hat and rain coat

Also, they had an Andean bear in the collection, which will forever be known to me as a Paddington Bear. This also had me thrown for a loop, and if there was marmalade at hand, I probably would have thrown it into the enclosure and been forcibly removed from the facility. Also visible from the zoo was former governor George Hunt's tomb, which is a smallish pyramid on top of a small mesa. Needless to say, this was about everything I had every wanted in a zoo visit.

My second stop was the Heard Museum of Native American art. Given my locale, it seemed only fair to try and take in some of the culture of the people we stole the whole country from and then drove them to this state, which has the largest percentage of land owned by natives than any other. The museum was very interesting, and I learned a lot. Perhaps the oddest fact was that Conservative icon Barry Goldwater was an avid collector of Native American memorabilia and donated his extensive collection of Hopi Kachina dolls to the museum. It was a little disheartening to be on the guided tour and listen to what were clearly exasperated tour guides correcting people's incorrect facts on the natives, and saying, on several occasions, not just to avoid using "Indian," but "savages." We've come so far, haven't we?

Native ballclub

The museum had two separate museum stores, and I tried to not spend all my money here, and partially succeeded. I did spend a good deal on same contemporary native artists, but not enough that getting it all home would be a problem.

After my visit to the Heard, Honey Bears was literally right down the street, so it was a no brainer for a late lunch. I went back to the hotel and dropped off all my crap, took a quick nap and shower, and headed out to the park.

A fun fact was that this old stadium didn't have a parking area, so it took some driving around to find a public lot that I thought I would be okay staying in. After canvassing some Giants fans who were already there, it turned out I would okay in one lot and that I was lucky to be there, as it usually fills up pretty quickly, especially for night games.

Surprisingly, on the way back, there were no delays at all, and I drove back to the hotel easily. I packed it in as soon as I got back and went to bed for the afternoon game the next day.

The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, Scottsdale Stadium

The Giants and Scottsdale is a match made in heaven. Much as the city of its major-league sponsor, Scottsdale is the upscale hipster capitol of the greater Phoenix area, with a very self-conscious image as an arts and culture center, and with a long history with baseball. As it stood, I spent my time elsewhere than "historical downtown Scottsdale" that afternoon, and I'm not quite sure I missed anything.

Scottsdale Stadium is one of the older parks still left standing in the Cactus League, and it has been kept up to modern standards by the Giants organization over the years. The stadium is parked right in the middle of downtown Scottsdale, which largely grew up around it. This means that the full practice facilities aren't on site (a few practice fields are directly behind the park), and there isn't even a dedicated parking area for the stadium. It worked out that I got there so early, as I was able to park in the closest public lot, which many people aren't able to do. The modus operandi seems to be that Giants fans get rooms somewhere within walking or transit distance and then come out to the park.

The stadium is plopped in the middle of the area, which has law courts past the outfield (with many, many signs warning you not to park there), and commercial properties across most streets. There are several entrances to the stadium. The main entrance is on the first base side of home plate, flanked with baseball art and the main ticket office. Another gate is by the second ticket office more around towards third base. Two other entrances are on the other side of the park: one in left field and one in center field (both with their own ticket office). The center field entrance has its own little plaza and a statue to Jim Hill.

The entrances all empty onto a main promenade that extends all around the outside perimeter of the park and behind the seating bowl. At the ends of the seating bowl, it hooks up with a smaller walkway that goes through the seating area. The lower seats by the field and the first few rows of the upper seating area are regular stadium seats, while the top half of the upper seating area and all of the seats on the outfield line are bleachers. All the seats in the outfield are one large picnic hill running from the left to right field corner. The giant digital scoreboard rises behind the picnic hill in left-center, and at the top of the upper seats runs an area of luxury boxes and press box from between the bases.

All the concessions are on the outer walkway behind the seating bowl, or in the outfield corners, so you can't get food and still see the game for the most part, except from the bunker-like center field concessions. In the right field corner is the Charro Lounge, a special seating area with its own bar and food concessions that you need to climb up to via stairway from the main promenade. A play area is behind center field, and a large party area is in left field corner. The season ticket holders have their own concessions area at the home plate plaza, a nice nod to the guys forking out the big bucks, I thought.

The park has a lot of nods to history. There's the Jim Hill statue by the center field entrance, the Arizona Fall League Hall of Fame, The Scottsdale Sports Hall of Fame, decorative home plates with baseball terms in the pavement, donation plates for sponsor on the pillars, a commemorative display to the Taiwan Exchange Program, and nearly everywhere they will fit, there are plaques for the Giants World Series Championships, in even year denominations. We'll have to see if they keep the magic this year. [Post-season note: They did not.]

Giants fans pack the house on a fairly regular basis, and the stadium was bursting for this rarish night game. They were very into the game, and the between-inning activities were kept to the most absolute minimum in the Cactus League. Solid baseball experience in a historic stadium. What more can you want, really?

At the Game with Oogie: 

Sausage and water

So, I was minding my own business, walking behind the batter's eye in center field. (I'd like to digress here and wonder why it is whenever a ball ever comes near me, it is under circumstances that are nearly physically impossible? I mean, really.) So, in the next second or two the following thing happened. A home run batting practice ball cleared the batter's eye by an inch or two on the downslope of its arc. It hit the railing on the walkway on the far side and bounced off at an angle, directly into the side of my right knee. I was still processing all this information as I was collapsing to the pavement when I looked up to see some fatass guy who saw the whole event run up and grab the ball and then run away faster than he probably had run in years. As I choked out an epithet at him, I started rubbing my knee to see how bad it was.

Luckily, it was right as I was completing my walk around and was about to head to my seat. I thought of the better part of valor, and eventually stopped into the first aid station to get an ice pack to put on the knee just in case. Whether out of concern or liability reasons, they found me in my seat and checked up on me in the late innings. But as for that fat, ball-stealing, even-yeared son-of-a-bitch, I hope he rots in hell.

Island noodles

On the food front, I got a Polish sausage, and, because it was available as a concession, a bowl of Island Noodles, as it seemed appropriate. As this was a popular night game, I was only able to get upper-section bleacher seats past first base in the last row. I ended up sitting next to a gentleman from the West Coast of Canada who was just down to watch some Spring Training. We struck up a conversation over questions on my ice pack and spent most of evening talking about my trips and what brought him to Arizona. As the scoring continued and the night dragged on, it was a pleasant enough way to spend the evening.

The Game: 

First pitch, Reds vs. Giants

A pitcher's duel this meeting of the Reds and Giants was not. And the outcome was probably dependent on the fact that it was an even year.

The Reds came out to an early start with a leadoff single, getting to second on a fielder's choice and then being driven in by a one-out single. A two-out homer to right-center brought them both in, and the Reds had a quick 3-0 lead. Not letting the aggression stand, the Giants started the bottom of the inning with back-to-back singles and then a walk to load the bases. Two slow ground-outs in a row to second scored two runs to close the gap to 3-2.

In the second, Cincinnati had a one-out double to center bunted to third, but stranded there, while the Giants went in order. The Reds stranded another baserunner in the third, but San Fran turned a one-out triple and two-out homer to dead center into two more runs to grab the lead, 4-3. That lasted until Cincinnati came up in the fourth with a leadoff double driven in by a single to tie the game up at 4. And that tie lasted the bottom of the frame, as a lead-off walk was followed by a single and a sacrifice fly to right to bring in a run to take the lead. A walk and single followed, but the runner from first was gunned down by the left fielder trying to make it to third before the runner scored, ending the threat with a 5-4 home lead.

The Reds had a two-out hit batsman in the fifth who made it to third on a two-base error by the left fielder, but both runners were stranded. San Francisco had a two-out rally with better results. It began with a walk and then two singles that brought in the lead run. A wild pitch scored the lead runner and moved the trailing runner to second. A walk made it first and second, and then a three-run homer sailed out of the park in right, leaving the Giants with a 9-4 lead. Both teams calmed down in the sixth, with the Reds stranding a single and the Giants stranding a walk.

Cincinnati got back on the horse in the seventh with two singles and then a walk loaded the bases. A wild pitch scored a run and moved everyone up. A double cleared the bases of two runs, and the score tightened to a 9-7 lead for San Fran. Not content with this turn of events, the Giants went on another tear in the bottom of the seventh. A leadoff walk was followed by a homer to left. There was another walk driven in on a one-out double to left. A triple then brought in the runner from second, and a single drove in that runner. Two outs closed it out with the score at a more comfortable 14-7 lead for San Francisco.

The demoralized Reds only managed a single in the top of the eighth, while the Giants weren't quite done yet. Three singles in a row with one-out loaded the bases. A ground-out to second only got the runner at first and advanced everyone else, scoring a run. A short two-out single got in another run in, but a strikeout ended the damage at 16-7. Cincinnati made a last attempt in the ninth, with a leadoff single erased on a fielder's choice. The trailing runner made it to second on a ground-out to third, and then he went over to third on a wild pitch, but a ground-out to first ended the game with a pointless 14-7 Giants win.

The Scorecard: 

Reds vs. Giants, 03/08/16. Giants "win," 14-7.

The scorecard was part of the full-sized, full-color magazine program. However, the scorecard is a cardstock insert at the centerfold, so it was good to use with pencils and didn't have any advertisements taking up space. There was even a page of scoring instructions. However, it was a one-page scorecard, so you must flip it over when you want to score different innings.

This was a fairly standard, high-scoring game, but some things of note. There was a two-base error on the Giants left fielder in the fifth in the course of butchering a fly ball. But the most unique thing in this game was that the Reds replacement center fielder and starting third baseman both had the same uniform number (7). There was no overlap, as both the center fielder and third baseman swapped out in the seventh, but it was pretty confusing to work out, even with announcements. I originally thought that the center fielder went to play third base, but I was able to read the jersey when he came up in the eighth. There was also the outfield assist in the bottom of the fourth, leading to a CS 7-5. Two runs scored in the game on two wild pitches.

The Accommodations: 

The maintenance guy showed up to deal with the fire alarm issue while I was out at the game or the zoo, or wherever. I could tell because the fire alarm was all put back together again from my gentle ministrations the night before. None of the other things I yelled at the front desk about had been fixed, though, and I was in no mood to argue by the time I got home from the game.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2016 Cactus League