Day 4 - Baseball to the Third Power

The third day of baseball started out by missing the window for the hotel breakfast, so we hoofed it over to Dunkin Donuts. As we sat outside in the shade of the umbrella, I decided to walk over to Big Lots to see about getting a golf umbrella. Our plan was to watch a AAA and AA ball game at the Cubs practice fields where Tom could leap and almost touch the top of the tallest shade tree. Besides trying to stay in the shade, keeping hydrated was quite important on what would be the hottest day during our vacation.

I'm happy to report the Slurpees were on me because I someone happened upon a $50 bill on the sidewalk between Big Lots and the hotel. I didn't play the lottery, but I tried the 50/50 raffle at the game that night. Unfortunately, I didn't get my money to multiply.

Oh yeah, we made it to the practice fields to watch a couple of games. Besides getting to root for more former Peoria Chiefs, here's one of the other highlights. Tom and Jim with Theo Epstein, the man that is currently entrusted with putting together a team that will reach and win the World Series. Give him time, we have some great young ball players coming up through the system.

The midday heat was brutal and really starting to get to me. I kept pounding water in hopes of keeping up with the heat and sweating. I wanted to power it out for Tom and Jim and in the back of my head hoped I'd have the opportunity to get a few autographs.

I focused my energy on watching the AAA ballgame where Starlin Castro was rehabbing and got an at-bat in at least 6 straight innings. I sat near a Cubs player's fiance and a host family from when a player used to play in rookie ball with the Boise Hawks. The bleachers next to us housed about a dozen players watching the game.

The atmosphere during this game was quite different. No one was cheering, but then again everyone was a baseball fan and paying attention to the game. I walked over to the players in the stands and asked if it was okay to root and cheer. They gave me the thumbs up and I was quite happy.

I got to clap and root for my favorites and they went on to defeat the Cleveland Indian's AAA ballclub. After the game, I took all my reserved to the other side of the field and asked for a few autographs on their way back to the clubhouse. Adding to my Darnell McDonald autographed mystery ball I bought, I got got Logan Watkins and several others. It was fun explaining to Logan why in the world we would be cheering for him. Loved it!

After the game Tom and Jim asked if I was ready for Dave and Buster's. My tank was empty and i shocked them when I said, "No". Next step was to cool off and refuel. We headed over to a place called Oregano's which had pizza Jim had been talking about for the last couple of days. My thin crust pizza was okay, but I should have taken part in the pan pizza the boys got.

A quick stop to freshen up at the hotel and we were ready to head to the first night game to ever be played at Cubs Park. What we didn't expect was the insane amount of traffic to get to the ballpark. With the ballpark light standards in sight, but the car only moving a few car lengths each green light... well, Tom and I challenged Jim. Bet we can walk to the stadium faster than you can drive.

Tom and I had just over a mile to go and reached the stadium just in time for the National Anthem and first pitch. We were ready to take in the ball game...

...from the second row, which turned out to be the first row with a ton of leg room! But Jim, well he was still "parked" on Rio Salado Parkway. I suppose appropriately named.

Here's the gametime temperature compared to that of Chicago, IL. Each time they announced the difference it got a good laugh from the crowd.

Jim eventually managed to make his way into the ballpark and we were all set to watch another Cubs loss. Even the Cubs new mascot, Clark, was unable to provide the boost the Cubs needed.

To cap off our long day, the Cubs had a nice fireworks show. I've gotta be honest, the Peoria Chiefs do it up so much better.

Day 3 - Practice Makes Perfect

After a much needed good night of sleep, it was up and at em for another hotel breakfast before hitting the diamonds.

Yes, diamonds... 5 baseball diamonds in total. Us baseball nuts headed over to the Cubs practice fields. 4 diamonds mimicking the shape of a four leaf clover with a coaches watch tower in the middle. And here we were, 3 huge Cubs fan, free to walk between all 4 diamonds and "mingle" with the likes of rookie, A, AA, and AAA ball players. Simply awesome!

The atmosphere at the practice fields was just that... practice. Soooo, I couldn't exactly let the kid in me out to ask for autographs. Instead I watched the practices and helped pickup foul balls that left the field. Dallas Beeler was practicing bunting with a couple other players. I picked up 3 balls and was headed over to the fence to slam dunk over the fence.

To my surprise, Dallas came over and told me to keep them. I couldn't help but question the fact that they would need the 3 balls in hand. He kindly told me to keep a couple of them, so I handed 2 of the 3 back to him. Dallas tried to give one back to me... wanting to make sure I had 2. I told him I had yet to snag the ball that was down at my feet. Such a simple interaction, but left me with the biggest smile on my face, and a new player to root for.


I didn't take many photos because because Jim was prowling around with his super zoom lens. I simply absorbed what I could and watched how these skilled ball players were still running some of the basic drills I did back in middle school. Practice, practice, practice.

Eventually the boys started a bit of batting practice on the field we had easy access for ball hawking. When a couple of our favorites from the Kane County Cougars made their way to bat, I headed beyond right field with Tom in hopes of snagging a home run ball. We were shut out this day, but fun none the less.

The practice fields wrapped up before noon, allowing us enough time to grab a quick lunch and head to Phoenix Municipal Stadium to watch the Cubs take on the Oakland Athletics. This was a fun game to watch, but trying to stay in the shade was quite difficult. Palm trees just don't do the trick. 

Our Cubbies came through this day and gave us a win! Two back-to-back home runs by Lake and Valbuena and a couple solo shots by Olt and another by Lake. It was great to see some pop in the bats! We also got to root on another former Peoria Chief, Wes Darvill, who we had also cheered for during their practice earlier in the day. Yes, we are dorks and cheered during practice.

I can't imagine all of the Cubs took the bus to and from the game, considering some of the starters magically disappeared halfway through the game. As you can see, there was a growing crowd of people hoping to get autographs. Even if we had shown up early for the game, I don't believe we would have gotten any. The ushers at the stadium seemed to be on a power trip and more than likely wouldn't have let us get down near the field.

That evening we met up with Shane, a Cubs trainer Jim has gotten to know through the Cubs Fantasy Baseball Camp over the last few years. It was nice to hit a local bar that wasn't overcrowded and listen to the boys talk baseball and share stories.

Two days of baseball down and two to go.

Day 2 - Welcome to Cubs Park

Saturday morning began our first day in Arizona. On the schedule, a Cubs game at 1:05pm. We hit up the free breakfast at the hotel and made it to Cubs Park around 10:00am or so. This gave us plenty of time to walk around the stadium and take it all in.

The facility had wonderful landscaping and our beloved Cubbies were featured on every wall in some fashion or another. This wall featured the Cubs logos from over the years.

And here's one of two walls that featured replica baseball cards of current Cubs players. The only thing missing was big trees to give us some shade, but I guess you can't have everything with a brand new ballpark. 

After touring the outside of the park, we caught some of the Cubs pregame batting practice at the main field in their practice facility (located just across the street). It was nice to learn the ropes on how to possibly ballhawk before the game.

The gates opened 2 hours before game time and I was anxious to get inside. Gotta make sure we were the only ones to buy these tickets off Craigs List. Thankfully there were no problems and all that was left was to meander around the stadium and take in a baseball game. In right field, we found the Cubs Wives selling baseball memorabilia to raise money for a local AZ charity. Both Jim and I bought a mystery ball that featured an autograph. Jim lucked out getting one of our better starters, Travis Wood, and even got to take a picture with Mrs. Wood.

Lack of sleep from excitement and the jet lag left me feeling quite sluggish, so I had to do the Dew. Good thing I did because our starter Edwin Jackson decided to pitch at a snails pace. I do believe this was the longest of the games we watched. I saw more throws over to first base in this game than the other 4 combined.

One of my highlights was getting to cheer on former Peoria Chiefs. Logan Watkins got a triple this day, which I miraculously captured on my cell phone! I tweeted my cheering for him during the game and then the pics, and to my surprise Logan responded after the game. Too cool!

The Cubs weren't able to rally back and lost the game. Unfortunately, I think this is going to be par for the course this year, but I'd love to be proven wrong.

Day 1 - Peoria to where?

The plan was to work a half day, gather my bags, scratch Jinkies under the chin and head out of Peoria on a flight to Detroit with the final destination of Mesa, AZ, home of the Chicago Cubs Spring Training facility.

I now sit at the airport bar giving my thumbs a mini workout while I await the call for boarding my flight to Atlanta. Yep, Atlanta is not Detroit.

After my first pass through airport security, I sat at the bar to pass the time watching some NCAA tournament basketball. During a commercial break I checked my email from my handy dandy smart phone and saw my flight changed to 40 minutes later. leaving just 20 minutes to catch my connecting flight, I think not!

Begrudgingly I pass by security to head back to checkin. As of right now, I will say that Delta has accommodated me nicely. Sure I fly through Atlanta now and arrive an hour later, but my longest leg of the flight... Well my butt will be treated to the cushy seats of 1st Class.

Fingers crossed it goes smoothly from here on out. I'm going to rest my thumbs for the time being.

I'm on a plane to Phoenix, and sure enough, my tush is flying in style. How much does this first class thing normally cost?

Well, whatever it is, I'll try to consume enough free stuff to fully take advantage. I'm watching live TV on FOX, downed one Baileys, pocketed a headset, munched on some peanuts, and have two bottles of water to wash down at my convenience. And, I'm only 30 minutes in.

I think I should start a list:

- Movie of my choice, Secret Life of Walter Mitty

- Placemat for pullout tray

- Hot towel

- Can't forget the pillow

- Baileys round 2

- Dinner: hot turkey swiss & bacon with lettuce and pickle, grapes, pineapple, cantaloupe, chips and a cookie

I gotta say, it was one tasty meal.

The flight was around 3.5 hours, so it didn't leave me enough time to watch another movie. I was going to try to fit in the movie Frozen, but the slow beginning wasn't keeping my attention. At this point I was probably driving my seatmate nuts by clicking around on my TV screen.

Since it was dark out and I was curious about the accuracy of the flight tracker, well that's where I settled in at for the remaining ZERO minutes of our flight. I'm quite pleased we didn't land at 28,012 feet.

I could really get used to that whole first class thing. It was nice to be pampered, but more importantly, it was great to land safely and meet up with Tom and Jim at baggage claim. Mesa, here we come!

TBT Cubs Spring Training 2004

Over the last week I couldn't help but compare my experiences to a similar time back in 2004 when Tom and I headed down to Cubs Spring Training in Mesa, AZ.

It was a whirlwind of a time. Meeting Tom Thursday afternoon in Hartsburg-Emdem on our way to Springfield to catch a puddle-jumper to St. Louis with a connecting flight to Dallas/Ft Worth to our final destination of Phoenix.

It was an epic day of travel from all of the passengers turning green on the puddle-jumper, then a St. Louis delay/fly around a storm to a cart ride across multiple terminals in DFW and eventually landing in Phoenix the next day. Only to wake up in our upgraded suite to look out the window and see mountains in the distance with a wonderment of... where are we?

We spent just over 2 days in the Mesa/Scottsdale/Phoenix area. I remember things like Tom and I finding the popular local hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, driving around the highways taking photos out the car window while cackling my ass off, our sun screen deactivating our hotel key cards, reverting to a little kid to get autographs, and most of all... enjoying the time spent with my brother. 

(I took this photo of Ryan Dempster signing autographs before their home game at Hohokam Park, and got it autographed the next year Dempster came through Peoria with the Cubs Caravan.)

I couldn't tell you who won or lost the games, but I'm guessing Tom can. I have evidence that Kerry Wood warmed up prior to the away game and most likely was the starter, but my memory fails me when it comes to the details of the two games we saw.

But I remember us shopping at a local grocery store and getting suckered into buying girl scout cookies, being too chicken to walk up to one of my favs at the time, Michael Barrett, for an autograph after the game when he was in street clothes, and seeing Tom get snubbed by Nic Jackson for an autograph at least twice. Nic Jackson who? Exactly! Guess "big head" didn't get too far.

Anyway, this post will lead you into the happenings of a much overdue return to Cubs Spring Training. Stay tuned...

Dog Walkin'

As I drove home from work with the windows down, I contemplated taking Sparky for a walk. I was leaning towards a resounding No Way. 

Why? Well, take a look at the evidence below.

Sparky (aka Shorty) has an uncanny ability to flick any drop of moisture to his underside. And with said moisture comes the dirt and grime from the puddly sidewalks and lake-like backyard. So, when I let him out to "do his thing" he was already dirty and left me no reason to not go for a walk.

It was a multi-step process to getting my little furball clean. As I had him sitting outside while I took the photo, he literally left a puddle! This led me to toweling him off outside before I allowed him as far as the kitchen to wipe him down with doggie handi-wipes. Now he is comfortably snoozing in his bed and smells like green tea.

In other news, I tried a new app to chart track our walk tonight. We used Dog Walk, which is made by the MapMyWalk people. I used my arm band so the signal wouldn't get blocked by anything, but to no avail. Contrary to what the route shows below, I did not climb any fences and cut through backyards.