We left for Phoenix on Saturday morning. The Brewers were playing the Oakland A's that day all the way over in Mesa, which would be an extra half hour drive east from Phoenix, so we knew before we left that we weren't going to be seeing the major league team. The minor league teams, however, were playing at Maryvale vs. the Cincinnati Reds. When we left our house in Temecula, we didn't stop until we were in the Maryvale parking lot! We got to Maryvale around noon on Saturday, and the games started at 1pm. The AAA and AA teams were playing at the same time, but we wanted to watch the AA team. Keston Hiura was playing with the AA team, and he drew us in. Hiura was drafted 9th in the 2017 draft, and he is making his way right up the ranks. We were really glad we were watching that game, as Hiura was a double away from a cycle! He is going to be a great addition to the major league roster when he's ready! While we were watching the AA game, we spoke to a good friend of Hiura's, who he went to college with at UC-Irvine. I believe this guy was their sports photographers, and he had been following Hiura since his freshman year. It was cool to get some insight into his younger years. Before we left Marylvale, we took a peek at the construction that they have started on the complex. I can't wait for next year's Spring Training to see all the new bells and whistles! After the game, we settled into our hotel, took a little swim in the pool, and Face-timed with my brother and mom!
Unbeknownst to us, our hotel was facing the airport, so we went upstairs to watch planes come in for a little bit. Tying baseball and airplanes together in 1 trip is like heaven for me!
On Sunday, the last day of Spring Training, the Brewers had an "away" game all the way up in Surprise, AZ. We decided not to go to that game either, as the minor leaguers had games again at Maryvale. We were at the fields by 9am, and we were able to see the Brewers manager, Craig Counsell, the GM David Stearns, and the previous GM and now Senior Advisor to the Brewers, Doug Melvin. They were all coming out of meetings inside Maryvale. It was one of the only times I have seen Craig Counsell in anything but a baseball uniform. Sunday was also the last day of Spring Training, so we saw a bunch of trucks loading up the clubhouse to transport it all back to Milwaukee. It was Getaway Day for the Brewers! It was kind of a bittersweet moment for us, knowing that Spring Training was wrapping up. I was super excited about the season starting, but I wanted more time to see the Brewers on a smaller stage. Anywho...
We parked right across from Doug Melvin!
Trucks like this transport the players' vehicles to their respective stadiums!
That day, the minor league games started at noon, and we decided to watch the Single-A game vs. the Royals. The cool thing about this game was that some of the minor leaguers who weren't playing were taking stats and working the pitching radar gun. And we were sitting right amongst them! There were about 10 or so players who were just chilling to the left and in front of us. I was doing my very best not to lose my cool, but on the inside I was doing backflips! That was one of the top 3 best moments of the weekend! Later that day, Robbie had his fantasy baseball draft, so we headed back to the hotel before the Single-A game was over. The only regret I have is not taking an impromptu picture with all of them. Oh well, I will have the memories! That evening, we found a Rosati's Pizza in the area. Temecula has a Rosati's Pizza, and it's out favorite pizza place, so we were excited to find one in Phoenix, and it wasn't too far from our hotel. The night before we left for Phoenix, we actually we out for dinner at Rosati's with our friends, and one of them had the best looking pasta, so I had to try it that night, and it was delicious!
Just because Spring Training had wrapped on Sunday, the minor leaguers were still at Maryvale for Extended Spring Training. However, Monday was an off-day for the whole league. That morning we were wondering what to do, as we didn't want to waste a full day in Phoenix. Here began the idea of visiting every single ballpark in the Cactus League! Yes! We planned and mapped out our day, and we were going to see all the Spring Training facilities of every team that plays in Phoenix. First, though, we started out by eating breakfast at a Brewers hotspot called The Black Bear Cafe. Robbie found on Twitter that several players have frequented this cafe, and this is the place that Brent Suter and Brandon Woodruff went to celebrate after finding out they made the major league roster for the very first time! Even though no baseball players were there, I felt like I was dining among royalty! And to boot, the cafe had excellent food!
A map of all the ballparks! We were set to go!
We started our ballpark tour at Goodyear Ballpark, home of the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians:
Next was Camelback Ranch in Glendale, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox:
Continuing on, 3rd up was Surprise Stadium, home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals:
We headed east next to the Peoria Sports Complex, home of the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners:
Then we visited Salt River Fields again, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies:
From there, we went to Scottsdale Stadium, home of the San Francisco Giants:
After, we went to Sloan Park, home of the Chicago Cubs:
Hohokam Stadium was next, home of the Oakland A's:
Last but certainly not least, Tempe Diablo Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim:
The stadium tour was the best way to spend an "off day," while still incorporating baseball into it. That is, in fact, the reason we came to Phoenix in the first place!
Right after our ballpark tour, we headed over to Chase Field, where the Arizona Diamondbacks were holding an exhibition game vs. the Cleveland Indians. Exhibitions games are somewhat new to the league. I like the idea of this type of transition from Spring Training to Opening Day. The Diamondbacks ended up winning 7-0. It was even more exciting when we realized we were sitting by one of the Brewers minor league players, Trevor Morrison! I heard them chattering about the Brewers potential line-up to start the season. I just thought they were Brewer fans. After talking to them, we found out it was Trevor, his dad, and Trevor's girlfriend! How coincidental is that?! Out of 48,000 seats, they had tickets right next to us! For a day that started out with a big question mark turned into a fun day filled to the brim with baseball. We were exhausted by the time we got back to our hotel.
Starting this season, they are monitoring mound visits.
Being we were sitting right next to one of the minor league players at the Diamondbacks game, he told us that the minor league players wouldn't be reporting to camp until 1pm the next day, which meant we could sleep in and relax on Tuesday. We took advantage of the hotel breakfast buffet, and then it was pool time! Our hotel pool was heated, and Robbie and I spent a good 2 hours of the morning splashing and relaxing. It was so nice, and we even had the pool pretty much to ourselves. It was a nice break from the last few mornings. By noon, we were ready to head to Maryvale.
One of the coolest things about this weekend was what we were about to see. We got to Maryvale and all the security was gone because Spring Training was done. So, we pretty much had free-reign on the whole grounds. When we got there, players were just starting to show up to the fields in their street clothes. Usually we wouldn't be able to see this because 1), warm-ups are usually in the morning and 2), by the time security would let us in, the players would be dressed already. Because the circumstances were different, we got to see "a day in the life" of a baseball player. Robbie and I were pretty much alone at the fields; there was just one other "grapher" there, who was really nice, and he has us to thank for all the signatures he got as he didn't recognize hardly anyone. It was so awesome to just watch these ballplayers walk up to their clubhouse, and the majority of them were super chill. We recognized most of these players, so for the players in which we already had signed baseballs, we would just say clever things to them as they walked by. Some of the players would stop to talk to us, like Trevor Morrison (who we met at the Diamondbacks game the previous night), Brett Phillips again, and Keon Broxton. This was another Top 3 moment, if not THE top moment of the Phoenix portion of our trip. It may never happen again either, after the renovations to Maryvale this year. I'm worried that with the renovations will come heightened security and designated spots for fans. I guess time will tell.
Our autograph haul for this visit!
After the cool player experience, we watched all those players warm up in their uniforms, and do their position practices.
Maryvale has an observation deck amongst the fields so coaches can survey all the action on any given day. The observation deck is normally off limits to the general public, but we got permission from one of the minor league coaches to pop up there for a few minutes to look around. Yay!
Our time in Phoenix ended on Wednesday, and that was our travel day back to Temecula. But, the best thing about coming back is that we were still on vacation for the remainder of the week! The fun was just beginning as we were attending Opening Weekend in San Diego in the 2nd part of the week! Our Opening Weekend experience will be in my next blog! Happy Baseball, Y'all!
A Dust Tornado in the middle right of this picture. There were several of these on our way home through the desert!
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