Scottsdale (Rockies)

On Another Afternoon in the Sun

Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, 2016

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. Colorado Rockies
Cactus League (Spring Training)
Salt River Fields at Talking Stick
Scottsdale, AZ
1:05 PM

Outside the Game: 

Another day, another game.

I was pretty lethargic getting up this Thursday. It was all starting to wear a little thin. I went through the motions to get breakfast (where they had a new pancake machine installed, but not operational), a walk in the park, and then a stop over at the gas station to load up on water bottles for the afternoon game.

It was an uneventful drive out to the game. I got to park much closer this time, and headed in. There was some traffic on the way back, but given how lucky I'd been to this point, it didn't bother me too much. I was back to the hotel, and off for a nap, and out to the hot tub for a long soak in the shade.

I was planning an evening in. I had to do laundry one last time, I wanted to pack up all my crap, and I wanted to get all my paperwork in order. But first, there was Honey Bears. On my way out to the car from my hotel room, I was flagged down by the new manager in the flesh. I did sort of feel bad for the guy. He was thrown into a bad situation, with a customer who had him dead to rights, and nothing he could do about it.

He started talking about what he could do for me. I asked him for a discount and a change of room. He said he couldn't do either. I told him that he could go to hell and leave me alone then. I mean, I'm not sure what he was expecting with that. “I can offer you nothing, does that make it better?” No, Chucky. No, it does not.

I got my half rack of ribs meal and enjoyed it tremendously. Back at the hotel, I settled in for a night of laundry and paperwork, and it was actually a pretty welcome experience. I took all my shipping supplies and packed up all my accumulated souvenirs with plans on shipping them to myself the next day. It was two pretty big boxes of stuff. The rest of the night was getting my receipts and whatnot organized and then an early night before another afternoon game the next day.

The Stadium & Fans: 

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

The Salt River Field was largely unchanged from the day before, although it was a lot hotter in the afternoon than in the evening. My second walk-around mostly confirmed what I had seen the day before, but I did get to poke around a little more at certain places.

Dinger, for some reason

The Colorado crowd was less than the local D-Backs, to be sure, but it isn't like it was much short of a sell-out, especially with the number of Angels’ fans in attendance. It was also St. Patrick's Day, so there were green bases, and many of the contests between the innings paid lip service to the holiday. The least-favorite mascot in the majors, Dingers the Dinosaur, made an appearance to the delight of few.

At the Game with Oogie: 

The dangers of scoring

I was on the first base side again, and I was to find that I wasn't going to be in the shade until the later innings when the blessed darkness overtook my section. I was sitting with honest-to-goodness Rockies fans, however. It was a weird thing to see. But they were knowledgeable and making comments on their farmhands as they appeared, so in case you were wondering, the Rockies actually have some die-hards. And it would make sense that they would be the ones to travel to Spring Training.

Tacos and hydration

I wasn't very hungry in all the sun, but I did stop at the taco stand for some food. They were a lot better than I was expecting, to be honest.

The Game: 

Giveaways

The Angels came to the reservation to face the lesser partner in the new field, the Colorado Rockies. The ending was as bad as you can imagine.

The Angels came out swinging, with back-to-back singles to start the game, and then a double to drive them both in, although the batter was cut down trying to extend it into a triple 7-6-5. Nothing else came across, and it was 1-0, Angels, at the break. The Rockies had nothing to show for the first except a leadoff walk who was caught stealing. The Angels kept going in the second with a two-out double, a walk, and a deep single that scored one, making it 3-0, Angels. The Rockies had a single in their half.

The hits kept coming in the top of the third, with a one-out single that stole second, and then a two-out walk made it first and second. A ground-rule double only brought in the one run, before a new pitcher got a pop out to short leaving it at 4-0, Angels. The Rockies started the bottom of the third with a solo homer to make it 4-1, but nothing else came across. In the fourth, both the Angels and the Rockies got batters to third with steals, errors, and a balk, but nothing scored for either team. The Angels stranded one and the Rockies two in the fifth, and the Angels stranded one while the Rockies went in order for both the sixth and seventh.

The Angels kept the streak going, stranding one in the eighth, but the Rockies started their half with a hit batsman and a walk. A one-out single brought in one run, and a two-out triple scored two more, making it 4-4 at the end of eight.

Anaheim went in order in the ninth, but the Rockies started with an error by the shortstop to get the leadoff runner on, but three straight fielder's choices got single outs to end the game. They then declined to play extra innings, and the game ended in a tie, shaming literally everyone involved and watching the contest.

The Scorecard: 

Angels vs. Rockies, 03/17/16. Nobody won in a 4-4 tie.

The scorecard was again the centerfold of the reasonable $2 full-sized magazine program. It was spacious and again okay for pencil writing, but in the afternoon sun, the magazine-print scorecard was easily smudged by sweat and sunscreen.

Outside of the communist tie outcome of the game, there were several plays of note in this otherwise pointless ballgame. In the top of the first, the Rockies left fielder fell into the stands catching a ball with a runner on first, and the runner tried for a triple, but got CS 7-6-5. A one-out single in the third originally looked like a great play by the right fielder, but was immediately called a trap by the umpire. A two-out, ground rule double that same inning was awarded when the ball went under the left-center field fence.

In the bottom of the first, there was a good ole' 1-3-4t CS, a balk in the bottom of the fourth, and all three outs in the bottom of the ninth were made on fielder's choices.

Once again, ties are abject communism.

The Accommodations: 

I was the hotel again. Outside of the argument with the manager, there was nothing new to report, although I spent more time at the hotel that day that usual.

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