Cactus League Wrap-Up 1996

Last Updated 11 April 1996

Karin and I went to Phoenix for 4 days (March 23-26). There are 8 teams in the Cactus League (Seattle, Milwaukee, Angels, Oakland, San Diego, Cubs, San Francisco, Colorado). There are six stadiums within 30 minutes driving time from downtown Phoenix; The Mariners & Padres share a facility in Peoria; the Rockies play in Tucson (a couple hour drive). The Az Diamondbacks will join the Cactus League in 1998 and it is expected that the White Sox will move their spring training site to Arizona.
We landed in Phoenix just before 1:00 on Saturday, and by 2:00, we were watching a Split squad of the Padres play the Cubbies. It was exciting to see Ryne Sandberg back in the line up for Chicago. He didn't do much at bat in the 2 games I saw him, but as the weather heats up, he may get hot to. There were a couple Homers in the game: Sammy Sosa poked one straight away and Brian McRae launched one HIGH off of an outfield light pole. The highlight of the game though, was singing along with Harry Carey during the 7th inning stretch ("Let me hear ya'... ah one, ah two, ah Take me out to the ball game.... Now let's get some runs!"). You can say a lot about Harry (and I have) but that man loves the game. The one odd thing I noticed in spring training games is that the bullpen guys will get their running in along the warning track DURING the game. They politely get out of the way if the ball is hit their way. The Cubbies spring home (Ho Ho Kam Park) is a little rustic, but they are getting a brand new park for 1997 in Mesa. The Cubbies got beat that day, but for the Cubs fans, hope springs eternal; they were already saying, "Wait until next year". Seats: although I was in the last row, I looked down on the on-deck circle. The Cubbies seem to be the hottest ticket in the Cactus League; they sell out regularly and always on the weekend.
I was going to try to take in a night game that same day (Angels vs Mariners) but the game was sold out, so I passed on the SRO tickets.
The A's and the Padres played on Sunday. The park in Peoria that the Pads and Mariners share is a beautiful new facility. Behind the outfield wall is a gently sloping grassy area that they sell as "lawn seating" for $4. It looks like the perfect spot for families with over-active kids. Plus, the HRs land up there and provide a nice scramble area for the kids to chase down the HR balls. The park holds around 10,000. Ariel Prieto pitched for the A's and got slapped around some; he also got called for 2 balks. Rickie Henderson can still tear around the basepaths (when he wants to - remember he is a Padre now). I sat next to an older couple who were friends with A's catcher Terry Steinbach; he had a HR and double, so they were glad to see him have a good day. I always wear my Pirate garb to a game, so when a fellow saw my Pirate cap he asked if I was from Pittsburgh. His 93 year old uncle was with him; Unc' was born in 1903 and has been a Pirate fan all his life. He saw Honus Wagner play and said he was the best player he'd ever seen. He rattled off several other Bucco memories: Big Poison, Little Poison, Traynor, Cuyler, Kiner hitting them out, Groat, Hoak, Burgess... I asked him who was the best Pirate Center fielder he had seen; he said, "Max Carey never got enough credit; Little Poison was good, but not as good as Carey." Best all around outfielder, "that fellow that got killed in the plane crash (Clemente); boy he could catch the ball and throw." During the 7th inning stretch we sang, "root, root, root for the Buccos..." Seats: half way down the left field line, but only about 6 rows from the field.
Karin let me go to Monday's game by myself. The Giants and the A's at Phoenix. The A's park is nice home, but nothing much to write home about. The seats were the highlight in this game; I don't usually like to look through the screen, but I got a seat immediately behind the plate in the 7th row. I could have called balls & strikes. I got there early and watched Jimmy Davenport hit infield practice to the Giants. Early in the game, Barry Bonds was chasing a foul pop toward the left field stands. He hit the short fence and flipped over it and got stuck between the fence and the stands. There was a couple minute delay as they fished him out and the trainer checked him out, but he was OK and stayed in the game. On his next at bat, Barry unloaded on a pitch and sent it out for a HR. It wasn't the farthest poke I've seen, but it sure got out in a HURRY. After the game, kids got to go on the field and run around the bases.
The real highlight of the day was after the game; I was wearing a Forbes Field t-shirt and a guy asked how he could get one of those. He was a local reporter for the Arizona Republic. Larry Ward grew up in Pittsburgh and was 18 years old in 1960. He, his Dad, and his Uncle went to the 7th game of the World Series. I asked him to describe his feelings of that day. He said his Dad asked him to go and he initially said, "Ah, I don't want to see them lose it." But his Dad said when will you get to see another World Series game - so Larry decided to go to Forbes Field. They sat in the 2nd deck on the 3rd base side. He remembers that his Mom packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for them; Larry said. "Who the heck wants to eat peanut butter and jelly at the ballpark when there are all those hot dogs there." There were a lot of Highs and Lows in that game. He thought the Bucs had lost the game; then, Hal Smith hit a home run and they thought they might win. When Tony Kubek got hit in the throat with Virdon's grounder, Kubek went straight to the ground, but fell on the ball; Larry said no one knew where the ball was (Kubek was laying on it). The Yankees came back to tie the game in the 9th and the crowd was on edge again. In the bottom of the 9th, Bill Mazeroski stepped to the plate and whacked a pitch to left-center field. Larry said, the ballpark got quiet, "like someone turned the sound off." They thought it might go for a double. They saw Yogi Berra looked up at the ball and started back toward the wall, then stopped and started trotting toward the infield. By then, everyone realized it was a home run; Maz was at second base waving his cap. Larry said that it was pandemonium in Forbes Field. They stayed in the park for maybe 40 minutes. Once they made it outside, the streets were just grid-locked. His Dad and Uncle had an idea, so they put Larry in the back of the convertible with a Pirate cap and yelled, "Hey, this is Maz, let us through". Larry didn't look anymore like Maz than any of us, but the crowd parted and they got out of Oakland. Once they got downtown, they were just stuck. All the bridges and tunnels into/out of the city were just shut down. Larry remembers that beers were handed out into the streets from the bars. Larry kept his ticket stub and years later, he had Maz sign the back of it for him. Many collectors have made offers to him for the autographed ticket stub, but Larry won't part with it. The memories it contains means more than money.
Tuesday was our final day in Phoenix. We went to Tempe Diablo stadium to see the Cubs vs the Angels. The stadium is another gorgeous 10,000 seat park with lawn seating in left field. For the ceremonial first pitch, they brought out 4 people (a pitcher, catcher, batter, and ump). That is one way to get more fans involved. Jim Abbott pitched for the Halos; Dickie Schofield entered the game as a Pinch Runner. My highlight of the day was at the hotel prior to the game. I was wearing an authentic looking 1960-ish Pirate jersey and cap; a cap driver thought I was a ball player and when I denied being one, he confessed he was ready to ask me for an autograph - what a compliment to a 35-year old has-been.
The vendors provided me a few chuckles in each ballpark. At the Cubs game, the orange juice vendor called his wares "Harry Carey's second favorite drink." Everything could be "Yummy, yummy for your tummy." One fellow announced his arrival in the aisle with "Room Service." Another fellow sold, "Lemonade, lemonade like your grandma made."

Oh yeah, try the Brats at the Cubs game, Nachos at Peoria, and Tempe had salads, and soft serve yogurt. Only the Cubs had postcards of their ball park, but I told everyone else they should get picture postcards.

Next spring, I'm planning a trip to the Grapefruit league with an old buddy. I better start scouting the Florida spring locations now....

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