2017 Spring Training Day 3

Up early, Tomasin and I grabbed a bite to eat at the hotel. He packed up and I took him to the airport about 8:15 am for a 9:45 am flight from Phoenix to Burbank to Oakland. On the way back to the hotel, I made a quick stop at the Rosson House.

Back at the hotel, I ran about 4.3 miles on the treadmill. I miss having a chance to run with Wallen... There are some cool places to run around Phoenix.

Once I got packed up and cleaned up, I picked up Snipes and Keith at their hotel. We headed to the house that Wallens were renting. We hung out and watched more NCAA basketball.

Eventually, we headed to Goodyear. The game for the day was the Indians and the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks scored 2 runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game; the game ended with the score 4 to 4. I have only seen one other tie during Spring Training. Gregor Blanco lead off and played centerfield for the Diamondbacks. He spent the last five years playing for the Giants.

A log of spring training games I have seen over the years is here.

After the game, we headed back to the Wallens' rental. Snipes, Keith and I were ahead of the other cars so we stopped and picked up some more stuff for dinner.

Snipes and Keith caught a Lyft to the airport about 6:30 pm for a 8:00 pm flight. I eventually took off about 8:00 pm for a 10:00 pm Southwest flight. I landed back in Sacramento about 11:45 pm and was home in bed by 12:45 am. The only odd thing about the trip home was that they were only running one small train from the concourse back to the terminal. There were two or three flights worth of people trying to get into the train!

2017 Spring Training Day 2

Up fairly early, Tomasin and I hit the exercise room at the Residence Inn. I ran on the treadmill, while Tomasin used the bike.

After having breakfast and getting cleaned up, we headed over to the Holiday Inn to pick up Snipes and Keith. Snipes decided that they wanted to see the Giants at Peoria. Heading to Peoria, we ended up stopping at the Deli Sports Bar. We played pool and watched basketball for an hour and a half. Tomasin and I won four straight pool games.

From there, we wound our way towards the Peoria Stadium. I ended up going up one exit and working my way back towards the stadium. We ended up dropping Snipes and Keith about a half mile from the stadium.

Tomasin and I then took off to join the rest of the group at Hohokam Stadium. I haven't been to Hohokam since 2004. The A's moved there from Phoenix Municipal and the Cubs built a new complex. We walked into the stadium just as they were playing the national anthem and were in our seats for the first pitch.

The game for the day was to see the A's play the Padres. In a pitching duel, the A's won the game by the score of 2 to 1. We had some nice seats behind home plate in the shade. Marcus and his group never showed up for the game...

A log of spring training games I have seen over the years is here.

After the game, the group headed to Four Peaks Brewery.

Tomasin and I eventually caught up Snipes and Keith back at their hotel. They had taken a Lyft back to the hotel from Peoria at a cost of $181!?!

While most of the group went to dinner in downtown Tempe at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, we hunted for a Mexican restaurant. After a false start, we ended up at Tacos & Tequilas. I realized later that I should have called Moore for a recommendation.

After a stop at the lounge at the Holiday Inn watching drag racing, we crashed fairly early. Tomasin is heading back early Sunday morning.

2017 Spring Training Day 1

I booked a 9:00 am flight from Sacramento to Phoenix. Unfortunately, Southwest has having some struggles with a number of flights. The flight eventually took at about 9:40 am and got me to Phoenix about 11:30 am.

Although I supposed to get to Phoenix ahead of Snipes and Keith and Tomasin. I ended up about 10 minutes behind Snipes and just ahead of Tomasin. I made a decision to head for the rental car rather than meet everyone. Given all long it took me to get back to the terminal to pick everyone up, I probably made a poor decision...

Once I collected everyone, we headed to Maryvale. The game for the first day was the Brewers versus the Royals. The Royals won the game by the score of 8 to 5. The Royals scored 3 runs in the top of the first and the Brewers followed with 5 runs in the bottom of the first. I was surprised to see Eric Sogard playing for the Brewers.

A log of spring training games I have seen over the years is here.

It is a big group for all three days. I have affectionally called it the Wallen Family and Friends Spring Training Trip. Friday included lots of Wallens (11), including: Wallen and Jill; Bob; Kyle and Mary Rose; Bill and two of his sons; Jenny and CJ; and, Carol. The hanger-ons included: Tomasin; Snipes and Keith; Doug and Bob; and, me. Like past years, Marcus from Wallen's office was there with two of his buddies. They are like ghosts; I hardly ever seen them. Dennis, a friend of Wallen's who now lives in Tucson, was also there. The group totaled twenty-one.

After the game, Tomasin, Snipes, Keith and I ended up at the Purple Turtle near the stadium. We watched most of the UC Davis versus Kansas NCAA basketball game. For the first time in history, UC Davis was in the tournament. They won their play-in game on Wednesday. They got beat up by Kansas; the score was 100 to 62.

There was a wild mix of people at the Purple Turtle. In one corner near the entrance, there was off track betting!

From there, we headed to the house that the Wallens were renting in Northeast Phoenix. They cooked a nice pasta dinner. After watching more basketball, we eventually headed to our hotels. Although Snipes and I had coordinated, he ended up at a Holiday Inn about 3 miles from where I made a reservation at the Residence Inn. After dropping Snipes and Keith, Tomasin and I crashed at the Residence Inn after 11:00 pm.