I have vowed to be more diligent in promptly posting from my trips . . . so here I am, posting from Scottsdale, Arizona, where is am comfortably ensconced in a cool and lovely hotel room with a bright bougainvillea-dotted-dotted view of the pool. This year's spring training visit has, thus far, been even better than last year's . . . perhaps due to more temperate weather (70's and 80's during the day, and no rain yet--knock on wood), lack of speeding tickets (so far as I know--I may again receive some in the mail when I return home) and the fun baseball-loving company of several comrades from
bleedcubbieblue.com.
My hotel is located near
Camelback Mountain:
Photobucket" border="0">As the inhabitant of a very flat part of Texas, I find the presence of such an imposing mountain both comforting and somewhat cartoon-like.
The traffic to
Ho Ho Kam on Friday afternoon was surprisingly heavy, so I entertained myself by looking at the stunning sky:
Photobucket" border="0">I was grateful when I finally found myself settled into the left field lawn area, with this remarkably good view:
Photobucket" border="0">Here are the team lineups for you:
Photobucket" border="0">I was able to photograph a few players during the game . . .
like Derrek Lee:
Photobucket" border="0">and Matt
Murton after a good play:
Photobucket" border="0">and Alfonso
Soriano, with the bullpen behind him:
Photobucket" border="0">Zambrano started the game and appears fully ready for the season to begin:
Kerry Wood had a nice relief appearance:
He looks as fit and trim as the youth who threw a 20-strikeout game:
Photobucket" border="0">Despite the action on the field . . .
Photobucket" border="0">. . . a small Cubs fan slept nearby:
Photobucket" border="0">He apparently feels so confident that the Cubs'
offseason moves will make a difference that he doesn't need to nervously watch a spring training game with the rest of us. Perhaps he was right, as
the Cubs won handily, 6-2.
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Friday night brought a lovely dinner out at Don and Charlie's, one of my favorite baseball haunts in Scottsdale. I felt very lucky to see one of the better-known Cubs fans, George Will, who was also dining there. Or rather, he was waiting to dine, as apparently even George Will must wait his turn at Don and Charlie's unless he has a reservation.
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Saturday's game was Cubs v. Giants (again), this time at the Giants' park in
Scottsdale Stadium. One's first sight of a park like this can take the breath away momentarily:
Photobucket" border="0">I arrived earlier for this game and was able to catch the Cubs during the last part of their
warmup. Derrek Lee was taking some throws at first:
Photobucket" border="0">Here I captured Lou
Piniella's watchful eye without even realizing it at the time:
Photobucket" border="0">The national anthem brought fans and players alike to their feet:
Photobucket" border="0">We sat on the left-center field lawn for this game, right next to the Giants' bullpen. Watching Barry
Zito, the Giants' starting pitcher, warm up was a special treat. Just before this picture was taken,
Zito was sitting on the nearby stool with his head in his hands, seemingly willing himself to pitch well:
And here he is in action:
Soriano did well at handling an obnoxious Giants-fan heckler, though here he appears to be saying, "What, me?":
Floyd, in right field, was lucky enough not to have to run very much:
Watching the ball go by . . .
It was a good game for the Cubs, with a solid outing by pitcher Wade Miller (who struck Barry Bonds out twice!) and
a 3-2 win that wasn't even that close, until a late-in-the-game 2-run homer by the Giants' Mark Sweeney.
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Saturday night's dinner was a real treat. Al of
BleedCubbieBlue.com was kind enough to include a few of us readers in his dinner at
Kona Grill with Bruce Miles,
Cubs beat writer for the Daily Herald. We were able to coax Bruce, a humble guy who quietly but devotedly loves the game of baseball, into sharing with us a few stories from his years of covering the game. It was a really special evening and we appreciated his graciousness in allowing us a peek into what we all believe is a truly charmed way to make a living.
That's all so far, folks . . . but I will be updating this post with a few more pictures from these games, as well as photos from the remainder of the trip. However, I'm off to the ballpark now. Have a great rest of your Sunday!
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Sunday's game was at
Ho Ho Kam Park, against the Angels. Jessica of BCB Fame was there with this charming artifact:
We saw another relief appearance by Woody, but he did not look strong and we later learned that at least in this instance, appearances were not deceiving:
But I did enjoy testing the shutter speed of my camera, as you see above. Woody tried to entertain himself by picking off a runner:
But we could not forget that Woody appeared a shadow of his former self, both physically and skill-wise:
There was chatting at third base:
And a kid with a faux mohawk:
I am always intrigued when I see a sidearm pitcher:
And this instance was no different.
Sadly,
the Cubs lost, 3-2, marring their perfect record during my 4-game visit to Spring Training.
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Monday came all too quickly, marking my last day at Spring Training with the Cubs. Today they would play the Angels again, this time at
Diablo Stadium in Tempe:
I think this may be my favorite park of the three I have visited in the Cactus League, though I cannot exactly put my finger on the reason. It may be that it is so cozy (seating only around 9,000, as opposed to Ho Ho Kam, which seats around 12,000) . . . you can't beat the feeling of intimacy that comes from being so close to the field. Speaking of that, we enjoyed really great seats at this game, thanks to Jessica, who had procured two extra seats that were spitting distance from the Cubs' dugout. I think you'll see the difference in my photographs from this game as a result.
Here is the pregame stretching and chatting:
Ryan Theriot, looking sharp as always:
As did Rocky Cherry:
The Anthem . . . during which the sun highlighted how very, very red Matt Murton's hair is:
Mike Quade, ready for the game to begin:
Jason Marquis arrives:
Marquis did not take long to hit his stride:
Those are two different pictures, by the way--notice how his expression is identical in each?
Ronnie Cedeno runs for the dugout:
Alfonso Soriano comes in from the field:
As does Jacques Jones:
In the Cubs' turn at bat, Murton hits:
If Ryan Theriot keeps playing like this, they will know how to spell his name:
Quade and Blanco consult:
The team appears to have solid camaraderie . . .
. . . and they all seem to be looking to the coaches for actual, well, coaching--so unlike last year!
Theriot moves along the bases, finding time to be social:
Lou Piniella is deep in thought:
and then goes to the bullpen for Neal Cotts, who my friend Chris the White Sox fan says earned extra time on their team due solely to his smoking good looks:
It's possible.
Cotts soon gives way to Rocky Cherry:
And Derrek Lee gets a chance to run:
Here's how the third base line looked from our seats:
One of the benefits of our seats was the ability to take a quick peek into the dugout. Notice something odd here?
Yes, that is Matt Murton, chatting with the little bat boys . . . could he be nicer? The rest of the dugout crowd looks to be at peace:
Aramis Ramirez looks especially trim this year . . .
he surprised us by pulling up his pants in Soriano-style, which makes him look even taller and thinner:
As the team looks on . . .
. . . Scott Eyre finishes it out:
The game was duly recorded by a Meticulous Scorekeeper Extraordinaire:
And the end result was a good one, with
the Cubs winning 8-7 behind the strength of winning pitcher Rocky Cherry.
This set of young men may have a huge impact on the season--we shall see:
Lou Piniella meets with the press gaggle, including Carrie Muskat (in orange shirt, behind Lou), Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald (in striped shirt, with faded red hat) and Paul Sullivan of the Sun-Times (whose arm is showing at the far right of the photo):
and here are Your Chicago Cubs:
That's all for this year's Spring Training, folks. Hope you enjoyed the pics, and that you, too, will make it to sunny Arizona next year to join in the fun!
