1. My favorite ballpark: George Steinbrenner Field. It is like being at Yankee Stadium only smaller and cheaper.
To promote his concert that night, Kenny G performed the National Anthem.
2. My favorite game experience: In addition to countless practice sessions, we attended four afternoon games. In each stadium we had the least expensive seats so I feel confident I can make a fair comparison. The Boston Red Sox vs. Minnesota Twins wins hands down in my book. The stadium is a bit older (in fact they will have a new facility next year), but it is the perfect intimate setting for spring training. We arrived when the stadium opened and laid out our blanket on the lawn at the wall in right field. You are so close to the action you have to pinch yourself to remember that this is the same major league action we watch with 10s of thousands of people later in the season.
David Ortiz' walk off home run.
Can't forget a visit from Wall-e
3. Least favorite game experience (not bad, just least favorite): Sorry Mariners, but the Mariners v. AZ Diamondbacks landed at the bottom of my list. It was the only stadium where we truly felt like we were in the "cheap seats." On most of the lawn you can barely see the scoreboard and you can't hear the stadium announcer so you feel a bit disconnected from the fun. Unfortunately, because of the Peoria locale, 90% of the attendees were AZ fans. Not to mention that AZ won :(
4. My favourite spring training player: Nick Swisher. We acquired a substantial collection of autographs, but most of the "big name" players usually passed right by. Swisher not only stopped, but he signed before a game and signed for a huge crowd.
Bottom line, I am completely hooked. I was as excited as Andy to finish schoolwork so we could head off to watch practice everyday. If you are at all a fan of baseball this is the way to see it.
No comments:
Post a Comment