Swingin' Spring Thing

Dave Paisley

It's been a particularly long and dreary winter in Seattle, and I was beginning to get rather tired of forty-degree drizzles. For the baseball fan, the perfect antidote is usually a little jaunt down to spring training, and this year was no exception. Of course, we had this all planned a couple of months ago, but there's nothing quite like actually going there. Fly out Thursday, fly back Monday, with just enough time to squeeze in four games with a whole day off to go exploring, too.

All our travel arrangements were done online -- airline, hotel, rental car and game tickets. It all worked well except for the car rental part. Here's a tip: stay with companies you've heard of. As it was, we were able to rectify the situation at the airport at the last minute, but it wasn't helped by the fact that Phoenix was hosting an NCAA Regional final featuring Washington's own Gonzaga Bulldogs. Anyway, we ended up with a brand new but gutless Saturn sedan (is there any other kind?) and were on our way after a mere hour's delay.

Our hotel also featured a little creative juggling, as they didn't have a free room of the type we booked. It appears that hotels have stolen the idea of yield management from the airlines, whereby what they sell you isn't exactly what they're prepared to give you so they can maximize their profits. Not that I'm bitter or anything. However, it was a pleasant eighty degrees and sunny, so who was complaining?

On the way to the Brewers' Maryvale park, site of our first game, we were pulled over by a cop. Doing 40 mph in a 40-mph zone rarely causes problems, so we were very curious to find out what the problem was. It turned out that there had been a spate of Saturn-stealing in the area (God knows why - they'd make the world's worst getaway car) and our brand new rental had a temporary tag that was barely visible through the heavily tinted rear window.

Once we got there, we were pleasantly surprised to find we had nice seats right behind home plate. There were a lot more Mariner fans than Brewers fans, just like in real life. Come to think of it, I don't recall actually seeing any Brewers fans at all. After a pummeling from the Mariner bats in the first two innings, those fans were under even deeper cover. Whatever the Mariners do this season, they'll continue to score runs.

John Mabry, playing third and apparently channeling the ghost of Russ Davis '98, managed to commit an error to keep Milwaukee in the game, but to no avail with Bill Pulsipher getting shelled early and often. Watch out for catcher Bobby Hughes of the Brewers, though. He looked very good (where the rest of the Brewer offense didn't) and should see a decent amount of playing time backing up the fragile Dave Nilsson, who hasn't caught in years.

That same evening we headed up to the Mariner/Padre facility in dusty, still-under-construction Peoria to see a National League West matchup between the Padres and the Giants. Andy Ashby against Shawn Estes. Not bad, but the offense was woeful. Or was it that the pitching was masterful? Whatever.

For the Padres, Ashby and Hitchcock pitched the bulk of the game, with Hoffman sandwiching an inning between them. At least those three look good, while I'm not sure we can say that about the rest of the Padres. Jimmy "Pig-face" Leyritz got a jump on his post-season heroics with a homer. Someone should tell him it's pre-season right now, not post-season.

On Saturday, it was sunny skies (again!) at Peoria with Seattle facing Oakland in a split-squad game. Double the scrubs! Half the talent!

Oakland had the all-geezer outfield with Tony Phillips and Tim Raines. The funniest fan comment all day was when Tony Phillips was doubled off first on a ball caught in the outfield. He coasted into third as the ball reached first, and a rocket scientist behind me noted that the youngster would probably get his ticket punched for AAA for that kind of blunder. I felt obliged to point out that the forty year old Phillips wasn't likely to get demoted, and besides, I wouldn't say that too loudly. You know how Tony loves those loud-mouthed fans (I believe it's deep-fried, with a little dipping gravy on the side.)

The guy may not have liked my attitude, because right afterwards, he kicked his beer over so the contents flowed right around my feet. As it was Bud, it sure looked like one of the Clydesdales had relieved himself under my seat.

Seattle went with the all-napalm starting duo from last year, Cloude and Swift, who managed to give up six runs each in a total of eight innings of work. Talk about deja-vu. Yes, the future for these two looks Cloudey, and I predict they'll disappear Swiftly once the season starts - Cloude to AAA and Swift to a rocking chair by a fishing hole.

For Oakland, Gil Heredia looked darn good, and if they can piece together another couple of guys to go with Heredia and Rogers, they may be able to reach as high as mediocre this year.

Well, two more days left, and still more adventure to come.

Next up: Whose black HMMWV is that in the hotel parking lot?

about the author

Dave Paisley had originally planned to make the trip to Arizona by car, but still has recurring nightmares about picking up a hitchhiking Edwin Hurtado. Explain that it was likely his team who left him at that Utah rest stop at drdjp@strikethree.com.