Month: March 2007

March 5th was my fifth of six Grapefruit games I’ll
attend this Spring. It was my 2nd trip to Dunedin in
the past three days, two days ago it was cold, rainy,
with a strong wind, today there was no rain, and this
time I was smart enough to watch the game from field
level, in the sun – MUCH better!

Big Country, Brad Eldred, opened the scoring for the
Buccos with a BIG FLY (his 3rd of the preseason) over
the leftfield wall. Vernon Wells knocked one out for
the Jays. But Eddie Garabito was the hitting star for
the Pirates, with a homer, two RBIs, & two runs
scored. Zach Duke looked very similar to what I saw
last year, masterful out of the windup, pitiful out of
the stretch. ISU’s own Jeremy Accardo struckout two
in one perfect inning for the Jays. The game ended in
an eight, eight tie.

The rest is covered by Maddox was the line always
spoken about the former Gold Glove Phillie
centerfielder. Garry threw out the first ball before
my 4th Grapefruit League game of the spring. Although
the temperature didn’t get much above 65 degrees, I
was in the sunshine and some of the 9,000 fans on hand
were almost better to look at than the ballgame.

The Yankees were in the HOUSE! They only brought five
players, Robinson Cano (who switched from #22 to #24,
in prep for a returning Rocket), Johnny Damon (a joke
from his Red Sox days says, looks like Jesus, throws
like Mary), Jason Giambi, Melky Cabrera, & Miguel
Cairo.

The Zealot wanted me to keep my eyes open for Illini
Grad Chris Basak. I called the Zealot when I saw
Chris playing 3B for the Bombers, while I was on the
phone, a grounder to third, resulted in a 5-3 routine
play. I yelled out, “I-L-L”, “I-N-I”! Basak got to
the plate three times, a hard grounder through the
leftside for an RBI single, a bases loaded liner that
died in centerfielder Chris Roberson’s glove after a
long run (that kid can FLY), and a bouncer to SS which
Basak busted down the line & was called out on a
bang-bang play. A Yankee fan said Basak lined a homer
to left Friday at Al Lang Field. GO CHRIS GO!!!

The starting pitchers were long gone when the final
was posted 10-5 Yankees. Cole Hammels looked solid
for the Phillies, but you could tell it was Spring
Training as Carl Pavano started for NY.

Day two in the Sunshine State saw me in at Brighthouse
Field where the Philadelphia Phillies opened their
61st consecutive years of Spring Training in
Clearwater, FL. 61 consecutive years is the 2nd most
for any MLB team at a town for spring training, can
you name the longest?

The Cleveland Indians were the visitors and even
brought fewer big leaguers than Boston brought to
Dunedin the day before. Jason Michaels, Casey Blake,
& Andy Marte were the only major leaguers to make the
trip.

A ball was fouled straight back, bounced off the back
wall behind the plate, rolled to a halt a few feet
from me, and the guy I was talking with picked up the
souvineer. A better souvineer was launched in the
opposite direction as Ryan Howard CONNECTED bombing
one 460 feet over the centerfield scoreboard. This
kid is gonna be good, MVP, and just signed for
$900,000. I think the Phillies should have signed him
for more money, not because they had to, but because
it is the right thing to do.

NickyV and I saw him on a baseball roadtrip a couple
of years back. Howard ripped a double in Cincinnati
and NickyV exclaimed, “WHO IS THAT!” NickyV was smart
enough to grab him for his APBA team the State Street
Sluggers, coincidence – the Sluggers made their 1st
playoff appearance in ten years after drafting Ryan.

I saw Ryan Howard on HBO’s Real Sports. Turns out
Howard’s mother controls his money and gives him an
allowance. Gumbel commented, “Howard is the only MVP
to get an allowance from his mother”. Howard’s mother
gives him a hard time when he goes over his minutes on
his cellphone.

All you Fantasy Leaguers out there, listen up, Shane
Victorino is going to have a breakout year, possibly
.330 with doubles & steals, batting between Rollins &
Utley, with Howard driving them in. Shane is a
HUSTLER, always giving 110%, he was halfway to 2nd,
before retreating and settling for a single, he’s fun
to watch!

Day one of my Grapefruit League 2007 experience
started with a game between the Red Sox and the Blue
Jays. I ran into some members of the Japanese media
when I was picking up my tickets at Will Call, knowing
the Jays signed a Japanese pitcher, I said, “Tomo
Ohka”. They politely smiled & nodded. After looking
at the teams rosters upon putting my fanny into my
seat, I realized Dice-K may have been the reason for
Japanese media being on hand, and suddenly didn’t feel
so well informed. However I was vindicated when I
noticed the BoSox only brought four major leaguers to
this road game, Willy Mo Pena, Eric Hinske, Alex Cora,
& Dustin Pedroia.

87 year old Mickey Carroll, a Munchkin from the
original Wizard of Oz, threw out the first pitch.

Turns out he’s a HUGE St. Louis Cardinals fan, who
even knew Dizzy Dean. Melissa McGhee from American
Idol fame sang both the Canadian (needed crib notes)
and the American National Anthems. There’s a very
entertaining beer vendor, who yells things like,
“AAAAY”, “GENUINE MOLSON IN A BUDWEISER CAN”, “BUY A
BEER, GET ONE BEER, BUY TWO BEERS, GET TWO BEERS”, and
my personal favorite, “IF YOU CAN’T CATCH A BALL,
CATCH A BUZZ”. He even sang, “TAKE ME OUT TO THE
BALLGAME” during the 7th inning stretch.

Aaron Hill paced the Jays to a 4-1 win with a two run
homer to left, while Roy Halladay picked up the
victory.