Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Take Me Out to the (Spring) Ball Game

Tucson, Arizona
March 4, 2010

It is still the season of winter, an Arizona winter which is like a Lompoc summer. The groundhog Punxsutawney Phil may try to hasten an early spring by not seeing his shadow, but the beginning of Major League Baseball spring training is a sure sign that spring is just around the corner. Looking over my list of things I've wanted to do for a long while, there was #64 - Attend a major league baseball game on the opening day of spring training. Tucson Electric Park was the venue, Section 121 / Row 6 / Seat 15 was my seat, and the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks of the Cactus League were the teams.

For the opening spring game of the local Diamondbacks, I expected a larger crowd but only around half of the 11,500 seats were filled on this warm and sunny day. Being a school day and not yet Spring Break, there were not many families and children in attendance. There was an older tinge to the crowd with lots of retirees including a flock of RV snowbirds from the northern states and Canada as far away as Nova Scotia.

As the crowd shuffled around waiting for the opening pitch, I soon came to see how the game of baseball has changed from my younger days. The goodness of the game, as seen by the eyes of a baseball-loving kid, has devolved into a game of money, and I’m not talking about the owners and the players but rather the fans themselves. I saw the few youngsters in attendance being edged out from meeting and talking with the players by adults clamoring for the players’ attention. The adults scrounged for signatures on their collectibles - collectibles not for their own enjoyment but rather for dollars in their own pockets. A three-inch binder filled with baseball cards and other memorabilia and a box of 16 baseballs were thrust into the face of players for their mark. Some players rightfully refused to sign these memorabilia which had no memories attached, and they walked away from these hyenas.

The first pitch left the mound at 1:07 pm, and we sat back in our chairs to soak in the sun and have some fun. With only a half-filled stadium, my neighbors and I were able to spread out and relax. Our relaxed seating arrangement offered us the chance to converse across the way while still enjoying the game. There was the retired couple from the mountains of Colorado visiting Arizona to get out of the snow and will travel slowly back with the arrival of spring and the melting of snow. There was the Army family from Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, an hour-and-a-half away from Tucson, enjoying family time together while the husband was still stateside for his duties. There was the retired couple from Minnesota visiting their daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren but taking some time out for themselves to enjoy.

The game itself did not offer much. The Rockies won 11-1 in a sloppy game with little drama as most of the players shuffled around in the game were minor leaguers. I was near the Diamondbacks dugout, and I did recognize one face from my old baseball days. He is the bench coach for Arizona who 22 years earlier hit one of the most memorable home runs in World Series history. This was when I was still a Dodgers fan but was conflicted as they were playing the Oakland A’s in the 1988 World Series when I lived in northern California. But by the end of Game 1 I was no longer conflicted and was still a true-blue Dodger fan. His homerun in the top of the ninth inning with the Dodgers behind 4-3, eventually resulting in a 5-4 Dodger victory over the A’s and the World Series Championship, is a Hall of Fame moment. I went crazy 22 years ago watching him on the television, and today there he was less than 20 yards away. For those who have not yet figured it out, Kirk Gibson is the face I recognized.

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