Sunday was a beautiful day for baseball in the Valley of the Sun. For today's spring training match-up, between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Chicago Cubs, the game time temperature was 81 degrees. With only a few wispy clouds overhead, by the end it warmed up to a very pleasant 89. A sellout crowd of 12,346 capped off a weekend over which more than 45,000 fans saw the games here at Talking Stick. The Cubs held off a ninth inning D'Backs rally --- a rally rich with former South Bend Silver Hawks --- to win 7-5.
Before today's major league game I made a brief visit to minor league camp and took in the new practice facilities here at Salt River Field. Back in Tucson it was a couple minute drive from the stadium, Tucson Electric Park, to the minor league fields. Here they, along with the major league practice fields, are just past the left field wall. And, like everything else here, they are beautiful. Each of the many fields is perfectly manicured, with bright green grass. There are several infield-only fields that seem to be mostly used for pitcher's fielding practice. There's even one small field just for bunting practice. The major league batting cages are next to one of the entrances to the stadium, allowing fans a good view of players taking their practice cuts.
I was able to talk briefly to South Bend Manager Mark Haley. Hales is really looking great these days. He tells me he lost forty pounds over the winter. I expect to put on ten pounds this week, so I have to find out who his trainer is and schedule a few sessions. Mark expects to have a few players back from last year's squad to start the season. He says to expect experienced infielders to balance out young pitchers. On the way back to the stadium I said hello to Arizona Manager Kirk Gibson, as we walked past each other. There's a chance it was more exciting for me than it was for him.
I have to report the first scandal of spring training. I did find the media dining room for lunch today, but was greeted by a stadium staffer who requested the exorbitant sum of $7 from me. Given the number of free meals I've eaten at the expense of the Diamondbacks, their minor league affiliates and competitors in the Midwest League, I was happy to pay today. But I can't imagine this move is popular with the real working media. Lunch is served buffet style, so I suspect the reporters manage to take their revenge. Today was Sunday brunch and I did have an extra sausage to get my money's worth. And an extra cookie. And another cookie for the road.
The new charges did give rise to a conversation among the scouts at the table next to mine, trading stories of the (perceived) mistreatment they receive around the minor leagues. I will note, however, that South Bend was specifically mentioned as one of the places they like to go. And they complimented General Manager Lynn Kachmarik for welcoming and taking good care of the scouts when they are in town. All this without knowing that I was from South Bend.
Today was the first game where I've kept score since the end of the Silver Hawks' season last September. Between two National League teams there is no DH, so plenty of opportunity for double switches and other odd lineup changes Then, compound that with the mass substitutions typical of a spring game, and it's quite a first workout. The Diamondbacks used 23 players, including 6 pitchers. The Cubs sent a split squad today, so they only used 15 position players and 5 pitchers. I'm proud to say that at the end of the game I had everybody in the right spot, and every play recorded on my scorecard. If you can make it all the way through a National League Spring Training game with no question marks or blank spaces in your score book, I think you can say that you've accomplished something.
Former Silver Hawks Jordan Norberto (SB '07-08) and Leyson Septimo (SB '06) pitched in today's game. If you remember Septimo's season in South Bend, you'll remember he was an outfielder with a cannon for an arm. Since 2008 he's been converted to a pitcher, and seems to be showing some real promise. Cubs fans will be happy to hear that Kerry Wood pitched a scoreless inning in relief.
The most exciting moments of today's game came in the bottom of the ninth. Down 7-2, several former Hawks pitched in to the Diamondbacks effort to mount a last-chance comeback. Collin Cowgill (SB '08) lead off with a line drive single to center. Gerardo Parra (SB '07) followed up with a single to center of his own, moving Cowgill to second. Chis Owings (SB '10) then grounded into fielder's choice which erased Parra, but moved Cowgill to third. Paul Goldschmidt (who somehow managed to avoid us, skipping from Missoula to Visalia) reached on a fielding error by the Cubs' third baseman, which scored Cowgill and advanced Owings to second. Up next, Ryan Roberts --- for whom I can't come up with a Silver Hawks, or even a Midwest League connection --- walked to load the bases. Miguel Montero (SB '04), singled up the middle, scoring Owings and Goldschmidt. With the score now 7-3, the heroics fell short when Wily Mo Pena, who played in Dayton in 2001, grounded into a game ending double play.
Had Arizona been able to bring two more batters to the plate, Notre Dame and South Bend star A.J. Pollock (SB '09) would have had a chance at the win.
One of the stranger things I noticed today was a stadium vendor selling pita bread and iced coffee. An odd combination that I hope does not catch on.
For a couple weeks now I've been denying myself Mexican food in anticipation of this trip. That ends tonight. On the recommendation of a friend who grew up here, I'm planning on having dinner at a place in Old Town Scottsdale called The Mission. Their specialty is Modern Latin Cuisine. I don't know what that means, but I looked at their website a few days ago and I've been hungry ever since.
Tomorrow I'm planning on spending more time at minor league camp. Then I'll be sending Owen an expense report for $7. (Owen's comment: Good luck with getting that money back Pete).
do you happen to have the minor league spring training schedule for the dbacks?
ReplyDeleteIf you go to Haley's blog on the South Bend Tribune website, you can get a look at the Silver Hawks schedule. I don't have the whole minor league system though.
ReplyDeleteIn an NL spring training game, do they actually report the subs to the press box, or, like I've often experienced at the high school / Legion baseball level, the umps either do nothing at all or turn around and yell "subs" and twirl their finger like it's a HR call, except it's between innings and you forgot your binoculars at home?
ReplyDeletethat's a really long question. sorry.
Good question. I'll see if Pete can answer that for us.
ReplyDeleteThe teams seem to have a plan about which players they're going to sub in and when. While there's an occasional pinch hitter when the pitcher's spot comes up to bat (though starters will usually bat at least once), typically there's a mass substitution in the fifth or sixth inning. It's not unusual to see seven or eight players come into the game at once. I think they're considerate enough to tip off the press box before the game roughly what they plan on doing.
ReplyDeleteIt does usually take a minute for them to sort out the batting order. I think they have someone from the teams in the dugouts to relay that up to the press box.
The official scorer will then report the changes to the rest of the press box over the PA system.
I'm glad that when I'm doing our games there's usually only one or two changes at a time. It's pretty impressive that they manage to keep everything straight day after day.