Spring Training 2009

TEMPE, Ariz. - Nothing like taking stand-by flights to and from Phoenix to ruin your spring training trip.

Due to the hectic schedule of baseball and partying, I was unable to provide any updates live but here's the rundown from my three or so days in the greater Phoenix area. Likewise, due to unplanned connecting flights to Dallas, I was unable to catch any Chicago White Sox baseball.

It was my first ever trip to spring training and it was exactly what I thought it would be:

A glorified country club for baseball fans and players alike.

My first lesson? Rent a car. Taking cabs everywhere besides the Arizona State campus bars was a colossal mistake.

While I stayed in a hotel in Tempe, I didn't realize just how far it was to places that seem close like Phoenix or even farther away places like Glendale and Surprise.

That was one of the primary reasons I wasn't able to hit up a White Sox game in either of those two fair cities.

A cab to "Phoneix" to see a Milwaukee Brewers vs. Chicago Cubs game set me back $48 dollars one way. Imagine adding on another 30-40 minutes to get as far as Glendale and tack on Camelback Ranch's out-of-this-world prices and...

Yikes.

But I digress...

I got closer to the action than most people in more ways than one because I have a friend that works for the Los Angeles Angels. He was able to esquire through every nook and cranny that Tempe Diablo Stadium had to offer when I arrived Friday.

My seats made me feel like I was at a Kane County Cougars game because I was so close to the action. In fact, I was seated just three rows behind Angels owner and cowboy boot aficionado Arte Moreno.

Having talked to several officials within the organization it's easy to see what kind of impact Moreno has made since taking over the team from the Disney Corporation.

Looking over old pictures of Tempe Diablo Stadium you can't see anything significant in terms of the park being unique. Even the facilities weren't quite up to par with the rest of the Cactus League and the minor league facilities were all the way in Mesa, some 20-25 minutes away.

Moreno came in and brought nearly everything to state-of-the-art condition and created four adjacent fields for minor league players right next to the stadium in Tempe.

Most importantly, he did all this without raising prices to an unaffordable level.

The best seats in the house were just under $30 and the grass seats were only $6. That is what makes spring training great; You get to see your favorite baseball players (for three innings) at minor league prices.

To be fair though, the Angels had most of the "B" squad out there on Friday with Vladimir Guerrero, Torii Hunter and Ervin Santana on the bench (we'd later learn that Santana was sidelined with a serious injury that should keep him on the disabled list to start the season).

To be honest, I was more excited about seeing ex-White Sox players for the first time live like San Francisco Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand and utility man Juan Uribe.

Rowand made a handful of great catches in center as he always does and Uribe had a couple of hard hit balls while playing a solid third base. I caught the tail end of 2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum and can honestly say I was shocked at how small he is.

Having read a story about the very subject in ESPN the Magazine I probably shouldn't have been shocked but seeing him walk with Randy Johnson made him look like a midget. While Lincecum's mechanics have injury waiting to happen written all over it, it gives him a deceptive delivery and his small-stature makes him a tough to read adversary.

Saturday, I took the lengthy trip to Maryville Baseball Park on the outskirts of Phoenix in a downright shady area. Reminded me of U.S. Cellular five years ago. It felt like home.

Maryville Baseball Park really doesn't have anything of distinction and that was dissapointing. It did have a packed house though due to the Brewers recent success and the following the Cubs have.

We had free lawn seats (free tickets was the theme of the weekend) because you have to be among the stereotypes when you go to a Cubs game.

I didn't disappoint, as the lawn doubled as the bleachers at Wrigley Field. You know how it goes.

Overall, the game was a snooze fest with Milwaukee taking a 2-0 lead early and never letting go of it. Carlos Zambrano looked like he was in midseason form which is good news because a lot of experts believe this is the year he finally has a breakdown.

Thanks to the World Baseball Classic, (which is stupid and worthy of tearing apart in another blog post) I didn't get to see my favorite baseball player in left fielder Ryan Braun.

But it really isn't about the end results of the game as most people can't even tell you the final score. It's really about how your team looks in the first three or so innings when the starters are actually on the field.

In that case, both teams looked about equal.

I think it's a two-horse race with the Cubs heavily favored but if the offense continues to run the table for the Brewers and Yovanni Gallardo can become a star, they may not be far off the pace.

Sunday was my final day of baseball back at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

It was a split squad game for the Giants so I didn't get to see the Big Unit take the mound but I was pleased to get an up-close look at top pitching prospect Nick Adenhart of the Angels.

Adenhart has a chance to lock down the final spot in the rotation that was vacated by Jon Garland (now with the Arizona Diamondbacks) and will need to show more improvement with his secondary pitches to do so.

That being said it's easy to see why the team is so high on him because he has great tailing movement and location with his fastball. He also appears to have good composure on the mound and didn't get rattled after a few jams against San Francisco.

Then again, going up against an offense like that, who would get rattled?

Photo gallery should be up soon.