Wish you were here, Dept.

 .....................

OK, the resort down here is nice, and there's no internet in the room, which is kind of like going on a spaceship and there's no potable water in the capsule.  We're in the office, which reads 35:50 remaining logon time on the stern little clock that obscures about 10% of the monitor.  I have zero confidence that this connection is even going to save my work to the Klat server, and less than zero willingness to try to e-mail the text if it doesn't, so... you ever see a chess geek stumbling around in the alley drunk?  Here's your chance to find out, as it were.

As thin as this $20 computer's patience might be, Cindy's is probably thinner ... you'll pardon the receipt of an e-greeting as opposed to an SSI post?  Quick!  Type down before Cindy wanders over to read!

.

=== The Stadium ===

The fit and finish of this place is WOWza.  The rails, the beveled pads in which the rails are seated, the seats, the sod, the ambience... if Cheney were 40 and Safeco 95, I'd give this an 85 or 90, anyway.  Cindy?  Would you say this is closer to Safeco or Cheney?  "Oh, it's better than Safeco."

Quick food review.  I'll guarantEE you that my hot dog was available last year also.  Dr. D's hyperbole is not usually serious, but his post-game gastro upset was very.  Serious, that is.

We tried ... sampled, now ... a hot dog - old Kingdome.  Hamburger - same.  Gyro from a trailer out back - Puyallup fair.  Twice the meat it needed, Hidden Valley ranch on it, not bad.  Funnel cake - the fair.  Pizza Hut  from a trailer - worst piece of Pizza Hut I've had.  Got a cup of coffee - virtually room temp.  It's nobody's fault.  Just saying - the stadium is SupaFine, the food prep areas minor league.  Whatever.

.

=== Siddown and Shaddap Already ===

We filed in and sat down in the second row, above the walkway, even with 1B.  There were six guys in the first row in front of us, on the aisle, all 30-something and 40-something, all very athletic, none of them very big.  You got it.  Ex-ballplayers.

Four of them had on the same set of khaki shorts; all of them had declarative Chicago Cubs MLB (TM) gear, including gargoyle sunglasses and all the trimmings.  They kept their voices pretty low, so I had to strain to make out what they were saying to each other.  But about the third inning, Cindy asked me "So, no radar gun, no pitch count, no nothing?  How do you know how many this Cubs pitcher has thrown?"  The oldest guy leaned back and smiled at her.  "A lot!"  Is that a technical term, I muttered good-naturedly to him, cracking up him and his friends.  Hey.  I'm cool with the scouts.

I kept my voice super low so as not to annoy them.  Nothing worse to a scout, than a shlub fan who talks like he knows what's going on.  Cindy often refers to me as "Dr Detecto" at ballgames and I was hoping against hope she wouldn't in this case.  The crowd is hardcore baseball intense at these games and I'd hate to see a riot.

But at one point I mentioned to Cindy that Ichiro was way in on a feeb Cubs hitter and three of them turned their heads and raised their eyebrows.  Great, a chance to have some fun...... Have you known me so long, amigos?   >:->

.

 

 

 

 

Comments

1
KingCorran's picture

...too bad about the first; you could have had even more fun otherwise.  =)
Thanks for the vivid mental images... can't be there, but feel like I at least stepped in!

3
mabalasek's picture

hey doc. im really interested in the role seager plays for the Ms going forward. how did he look? you think he's a keeper?
im really excited about the Ms right now. by the looks of it, the angels just got this year to enjoy their pujols era. the next 9 years would be full of sorrow and pain for them :D

4
ghost's picture

Hey Doc...glad to see you're enjoying the ST experience again...one of these years, that'll be me and my soon-to-be-fiance (we were just talking about taking in a ST some day...she loves my baseball dorkiness...a sure sign that she's a keeper).
I have two things to say to your post:
1) the food in Arizona is known to be lousy at most of the parks...so...I can't say that I'm surprised. :)
2) Who cares if you tick off the scouts?  You planning on working in baseball any time soon?  I think not, from the sound of your existing career path. :)  I say...tick 'em off and have fun watching 'em squirm. :)  You *DO* know what's going on down there and scouts - as good as they are at their jobs - have no right to claim that they're the only ones who understand the game.  I mean it in as nice a way as I can possibly muster.  Scouts are human too...and passionate fans are certainly capable of insight, as your blog proves.

5
Steen.'s picture

Where ya staying, doc? I'll buy you at least one soda pop for all the free entertainment you provide. The Don Julio however will be purchased just because.

6

He has definitely dialed up the aggressiveness.  Both in terms of swinging so hard, and in terms of expanding his strike zone.
Could be he'll have to rein it back in, but it speaks to the fact that KYLE SEAGER is convinced that Kyle Seager can hit big league pitching.
And why would he be convinced of that?  He's on site, as it were....

7

And we weren't meaning to bust their chops the way it sounds like we were.  :- )  Am a bit of a gym rat myself...
For example, Wood tried a pickoff yesterday and the 1B was playing behind Smoak.  The throw sailed into la-la land, but none of the scouts were tough on the kid, even though he was getting detonated.  "He does it no-look, is why" one kinda nodded to another.  i.e. Wood throws to 1B while looking at home plate, and it's a forgiveable ST mistake to not notice that Smoak wasn't held on with nobody out...
Scouts are usually very nice guys.  It's in the barren wasteland of e-mails and internet posts that things come across more prickly than they should...

10

Guys set stuff up at spring training all the time.  That's half the deal down here... Catcha next time my man -

11
RockiesJeff's picture

Thanks for the travel log! Have fun and enjoy. You really should be touring through Colorado on your way home!!!

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