It’s a mere month and a half until pitchers and catchers report for duty and I’m chomping at the bit in anticipation of Spring Training. I’ve been attending Spring Traning games and practices since I was a kid and it’s easily my favorite time of year. There’s a park less than a mile from where I grew up where the Giants would practice and it’s the same field that Michael Jordan played on during his break from basketball. It’s a great time of year as it’s a time of hope for all teams [Editor's Note: Except the Mets who will tease the shit out of their fans and promptly shit the bed in September].
As a run up to the beginning of Spring Training I will be providing my experienced insight into any and all matters related to Cactus League baseball and will even have a few write ups about the stadiums and neighborhoods as we get closer to the big event. For now, I present to you some insight into the recently released schedule:
Games I’m definitely going to:
March 9th: Angels at A’s. I always try to catch an A’s game during the Spring because I’m a big fan of Billy Beane. This is a perfect game because it’s a weekday game which means the tickets are cheaper and it’s at Phoenix Municipal Stadium which has a special place in my heart. Phoenix Muni was the home of the Phoenix Firebirds when they were the AAA affiliate of the Giants and I used to go to games there when I was a kid. It’s not the best stadium in town, in fact it’s probably one of the worst. But it’s got a ton of character. I’m definitely buying tickets for this game.
March 3rd: Dbacks at Giants. The Giants play at the best stadium in the best neighborhood in all of the Cactus League. I’ve caught a dozen games at Scottsdale Stadium and I’m in that area all the time anyway. Great bars and restaurants nearby and plenty of parking. This is the first matchup for Randy Johnson against his old team and I have a feeling the schedule might matchup nicely for him to make a start. Tickets: ordered.
March 24th: White Sox at Indians. The Indians return to AZ! Last year I followed the White Sox around and mocked Carlos Quentin…and he had a great year. This year, I’m only going to attend one game and congratulate him. Reverse jinx, bitches. Please.
Games you couldn’t pay me to go see:
March 16th: Cubs at Brewers. Both fan bases are pretty well represented during the Spring. Brewers fans because they’re trying to get out of the cold for a few days. Cubs fans because half of PHX is from Chicago and everyone’s a Cubs fan when they’re winning. It’s unbearable. This year, the Brew Crew faithful will be able to mock the Cubs and their booing while bragging that they actually won a playoff game. Another major reason this game sucks is because the Brewers play in Maryvale which is a great place to get herpes…or robbed. We’ll talk about this more in the stadium writes up closer to the start of play.
March 7th: Mariners at Dodgers. The first year the Dodgers play in PHX…well Glendale. They’re so far West, they might as well play their games on the other side of the California border. There are a ton of Dodgers fans who attend all games in the valley and they’re just as dumb in person as they are on COPs. If you haven’t guessed by now, the West Side is far from the best side. I chose this particular game because, after living in Washington for three years, I hate the Mariners.
March 6th: Rangers at Royals: Whoop-de-fucking-doo. Plus it’s way the fuck out in Surprise. I hear the facility is nice and all, but what’s the point in driving halfway to Flagstaff to watch two losers shit the bed in an exhibition game?
Maryvale Stadium was really cool. It was a cool park, with lot’s of cool places to see activities taking place on the various diamonds. i thought it was way nicer than Ho Ho Kam and about as nice as Scottsdale Stadium. The city (area?) known as Maryvale is a huge piece of shit though. it’s pretty ghetto and the traffic was at a constant standstill, at any time of the day.
spring training was an awesome time though. it was cool to be able to walk up to the ticket window and buy a ticket for $7 and sit anywhere you want.
of course Cubs fans find a way to fuck that up. we walked up to a sold out Ho Ho Kam stadium, and scalpers wanted $60 a seat at minimum. since we had driven an hour to get there, we said fuck it and were going to pay the $60 each. but there’s no ATM’s in Mesa, AZ, so we finally got a security guard to escort us in the stadium to use an ATM. as soon as that dumb bastard took his eyes off us, we snuck in with the crowd and found our way to the outfield grass. we proceeded to drink Old Style and get sunburned to our heart’s content.
I agree that Cubs fans are gay.
“lots of character” = rat infested and old?
Hawkeye, I think Phoenix Muni and hohokam are the two oldest. But there aren’t a lot of rats on the east side of town.
Hef, do the A’s always play at Phoenix Muni? Back when my friends lived in Tempe, we went to an A’s game on St. Patrick’s day. I thought the stadium itself was a lot nicer than HoHoKam, but the concession areas were a lot more crowded than HHK. It might just have been a result of it being St. Patty’s.
Fuck Arizona. The best spring training baseball is found in Florida.
My future in-laws live right down the road from the A’s field. I thought it was pretty cool to see a spring training field. This is important, because it seems like no matter where else you are in phoenix, you can see the Diamondbacks stadium and I wasn’t very interested in that monstrosity.
Oh and if anyone of you guys go to phoenix, I recommend you go to Rustlers Rooste. This place was so awesome. It was tacky as hell and actually has a slide in it.
Cubs suck, White Sox rule. That is all.
Yeah the A’s have played at Phoenix Muni for awhile.