"It might be a dry heat, but its a cold wet.
It was a beautiful day in the Sonoran Desert until it wasn't. To be honest it wasn't that bad and the time when it was bad wasn't that long. Unfortunately, the bad weather coincided with the 7th, 8th and (I assume) the 9th innings of the Padres and Rockies game at Hi Corbet Field.
The Diamondbacks have an off-day today, so I took in the game across town this afternoon. Named after Hiram Steven Corbet, an Arizona State Senator who worked to convince the Cleveland Indians to move their spring training to Tucson, the stadium was built in 1937. While Hi Corbett's the oldest stadium in the Cactus League, the oldest building in town, the San Xavier del Bac Mission, is 140 years older. The mission was founded in 1700 and the current church was finished in 1797. The mission, however, has never hosted a major league spring training game.
Hi Corbett Field doesn't sport a lot of the amenities you find in newer stadiums. (Of course, when you're talking about Hi Corbett just about all the stadiums are newer.) It doesn't have the lawn area around the outfield, there's not a luxury suite in the place, and there isn't the diversity of concessions available most other places. But it is a very nice place if what you've come to see is baseball. At least while the sun is out.
Lack of a big food selection became unimportant when I realized that Tuesday is dollar day at Hi Corbett Field. Hot dogs, popcorn and sodas were all $1 each. So, laden with an armfull of Dollar Dogs I made my way to my seat. To endear myself to the Silver Hawks promotions staff I will take this opportunity to remind you that in addition to a wide array of delicious choices at the concession stands at Coveleski Stadium, every Monday is Dollar Day featuring $1 bleacher tickets, hot dogs and Pepsi products.
From my seat in the 10th row on the first base side, the advantages of the old stadium were clear. The players and fans are close together. Not only can you easily identify the players, you can read the expressions on their faces. When you hear someone talk about the "intimate" environment at places like Ebbets Field this is what they mean. Behind me someone remarked that the playing field here seemed smaller than the field at Coors Field. Of course, it's the same size, they agreed, but it just seems smaller here.
Game time temperature was 69 degrees and the Arizona sun dominated the sky. Around me people were reapplying sunscreen and I was enjoying the enthusiasm of the one Padres fan sitting next to me in a sea of Rockies fans. He did everything he could to single-handedly negate the Rockies' home field advantage, at least as far as noise was concerned.
For a while it seemed like this game was being played at Coors Field. At least the way the balls were flying around. The teams combined for 27 hits, including seven doubles, a triple and four home runs. For me the highlight of the game was Carlos Gonzalez's homerun in the bottom of the third inning.
How about that. I didn't realize until just now, when I looked up the box score while writing this dispatch, that we're talking about the Carlos Gonzalez: former Silver Hawk and 2005 Midwest League Most Valuable Player and Prospect of the Year. I was going to recount this story anyway, now Owen will be happy that I've brought it around to something Silver Hawks related!
Anyway, the story starts with the previous batter, Rockies starting pitcher Jason Hammel. In his first year in the National League, Hammel looked thoroughly uncomfortable with a bat in his hands. He took the first three pitches, two strikes and a ball, without lifting the bat off his shoulder. It looked like he had no intention of swinging at anything. But as it turns out, he was just taking a patient approach. He took the fourth pitch back up the middle for a ground ball single to centerfield. Even the Padres fan sitting next to me applauded that.
Up next came the Rockies leadoff hitter, who --- without the benefit of the media notes, or even a lineup, locked away in the Hi Corbett Field Press Box --- I knew at the time only as "Gonzalez". Gonzalez took it to deep centerfield for a two-run homerun. Its several hours later as I write this, but I'm sure the ball he hit is still up there. Hi Corbett has a high wall all around the outfield. As high as the wall at Coveleski, plus billboards on top of the wall. The batter's eye in centerfield is even higher than that. Gonzalez's homerun easily cleared the batter's eye in straightaway center. The distance to the centerfield wall is listed as 392 feet. I can't find anything online that says how tall the wall is, but I did see it described as a "Green Monster". As best I could measure the wall, if you stacked up four centerfielders on top of each other, that's how high the wall is.
Around the seventh inning the rain came. It started out as a few drops here and there, but gradually got harder. Instead of baseballs, fans were now flying out of the park. Then it got colder. The Padres fan, who now lives here, assured me that in Southern Arizona "we love it when it rains." Then it got windier. The Padres fan left.
I stayed as long as I could, but when the Padres made a mid-inning pitching change in the bottom of the 8th that was enough for me. I was smart enough to bring my jacket, but not smart enough not to leave it in the car. It's my understanding that the final score was San Diego 9, Colorado 6.
I made it back to the hotel room and changed into some dry clothes. After a mile and three-quarters on the treadmill I had sweated through those clothes and needed to change into dry clothes again. I swear, I usually go all the way to two miles, it must be the high altitude here that stopped me. Maybe it was the Dollar Dogs.
I'm writing this in the lobby of my hotel, right under a framed Silver Hawks jersey. The Varsity Suites Hotel is owned by the same company that owns the hotel in Mishawaka. The decor is all sports related, mostly from Pac 10 schools. But there are a few things that make a Mishawakan feel like home, including a Notre Dame football jersey signed by Lou Holtz, a shirt signed by the 2001 National Champion ND Women's baskeball team, and the Silver Hawks jersey. The only signature I can easily make out without climbing up there is Miguel Montero, which would make it the 2004 team.
Someone's reading these reports, because when I got to El Charro last night the place was full. The wait for a table was worth it for the carne seca. The chili rellleno was about average, and the margaritas were good, but had about as much tequila in them as this dispatch. With today's report finished I'm headed down the street to a Mexican restaurant I went to last year. I don't know the name of it, but I know there's a giant bull out front."
Hi Corbet Field in Arizona.
The Silver Hawks jersey hanging in Pete's hotel in Arizona.
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