Play Ball

After a two year hiatus I finally made it back to Phoenix for Spring Training. I love going to the games, it is so laid back and intimate. Plus, the weather is typically gorgeous and it serves as a wonderful way to welcome spring. This year, though, we were met with rain and cooler temps. But, by the White Sox game on Sunday, it was warm and sunny - all was right in the world.

We saw three games in two days. We first caught the Rangers and A's game in Surprise on Saturday afternoon. We bought tickets shortly before the game. We sat in the corner along the third baseline. It offered a neat perspective. There was no one in front of us and I appreciated the lack of distractions. A few innings into the game, it started to sprinkle, much to the surprise to everyone including the weathermen - the sprinkle became a drizzle and turned into a full on shower and the rain fell until about 7:30pm; and then, scattered showers continued into the wee hours of the morning. I've never experienced weather in Phoenix, I come to expect warmth and sunshine. I was a little stunned to see it so wet and dreary.



We grabbed an early dinner with friends at Little Sicily. The company and the pizza were a delight. We weren't sure if the rain was going to let up for the evening game at Camelback Ranch; our friend was able to get us prime seats for Dodgers vs. the Cubs so we remained hopeful it would clear up. At game time, it was still wet, but thankfully, the rain stopped shortly after we found our seats. Which were amazing! I have never sat directly behind home plate before so it was a treat. There was no question whether pitches were balls or strikes. It was my first Cubs game. I've only ever seen them play the White Sox in the crosstown series previously. With Arrieta gone, and Kris Bryant not in attendance there was no eye candy to distract me. I was happy to root for the Dodgers, and even more thrilled when they won.









Sunday, we made a stop at Rudy's Bar-B-Que. Yes, that tasty chain from Texas. We had the sausage, moist brisket and smoked turkey. It was the real deal. Oh, man. So good! It's nice to know we can get a fix within a few hours drive of home.

The White Sox won against the Diamondbacks. We had awesome seats again, this time, third row just to the left of the Sox dugout. It's been so long since I've seen White Sox baseball, only one player remains on the team that I have seen play before, Jose Abreau. They looked great out there. So good, in fact, I think it was the first win we witnessed in Spring Training since we started going ten years ago.







Until next time! Go Sox!

1000

So, for my 1000th post I'm going to share what I did for my 32nd birthday.

In my final hour of being 31, I played Nertz with Frank and Shane. Frank and I have been playing for 15 years and I have never won, until then. I beat him and Shane both. I was so excited I offered a rematch. My luck did not last to 32. It will probably be another 15 years before I win again, but that's ok. I can revel in this victory.

Sunday was a beautiful day in Phoenix. A bit cloudy, but otherwise perfect. The clouds were actually a bonus, I think they aided in protecting me from the sun. Our shaded seats helped too. I believe it's my first Spring Training weekend I didn't get fried by the sun.

We were at the Camelback Ranch to see the White Sox vs. The Giants.

We have healthy dose of new blood this year. No more Ozzie. I was anxious to see how the boys would play under the direction of Ventura. They looked good out there. Even Dunn made it on base. Granted, it was a walk, but he restrained himself from swinging the bat. We won 5-2. It was one of the better Spring Training games we have seen.

After the 5th inning, Frank surprised me with Birthday Greetings on the scoreboard. Having your name in lights, sure makes a girl feel special.



After the game, we packed up and headed for home with a stop in Kingman. Tradition is a bite at In-N-Out, but this time we stopped at El Palacio. It's associated with the one in Bullhead City and Casa Serrano in Laughlin. We love those two, but El Palacio in Kingman wasn't up to par. The salsas were still top notch and that's my favorite part anyhow.

Amy and Nicky sung me Happy Birthday over the phone. On Friday, I got a card from them that totally made my day. I send Nicky cards for all the in between holidays like Valentines and Halloween. I always include cash. So, in my birthday card he insisted that Amy include a dollar bill.

When we got home it was rainy and extremely windy. Possibly the worst gusts we've had at the house. They were so bad the blind in our bedroom swayed and rattled from the winds and the window was closed and locked. Once we got settled, we cracked open a beer - my brother surprised me with a six-pack of Victoria and Kellerweis chilling in the fridge, and watched the premiere of Mad Men. It was a great end to a great day.

On Monday, I received a package from my mom with camera goodies which will come in handy for our trip to Italy.

Frank's weightloss challenge ends on April 7, so I've decided to postpone my birthday dinner until April 8. I want to finally try Scarpetta.

I'll leave you with photos from the game.

White Sox vs. D-backs

Friday we got a later start than we intended. We thought we'd make it up on the road, but outside of Kingman, AZ we came to a hault for nearly two hours. A tanker and truck were in an accident that resulted in the tanker catching fire. It burnt the truck to a crisp and the fire spread across the highway. Shutting I-40 down in both directions. All we could do was wait it out.





















As soon as we got to our friend Shane's house we left to head to downtown Phoenix for the game. We grabbed a bite at Crazy Jim's beforehand it was really good. They make their own bread, pita and dough. I had a calzone with chicken, feta and artichokes. We also shared saganaki to start. We'll definitely go back.

We were able to buy tickets for $10 each from a guy selling outside the ticket window at the ballpark. It saved us time in line and $15 bucks. Chase field is a nice park (it's also the sixth stadium we've been to this year if you count Spring Training). The roof was open for friday night's game. We lost, but stayed for fireworks. The first couple shots went off no problem, the third failed to reach the sky before exploding. The top of the garage caught fire. The rest of the show was cancelled due to technical difficulty. Yeah, I'd say.. Our second fire of the day, wtf?

Saturday afternoon we tried a new Chicago-style hot dog joint, FrankNSteins, that opened in Surprise. They have all the right stuff, direct from Vienna Beef. It was tasty, but their fries were terrible. Will never bother with those again, but we'd certainly return for the beefs and dogs.

Saturday and Sunday we had VIP parking and club box seats because Shane's employer holds season tickets. We went to Alice Cooperstown beforehand to get a couple beers. Cool place, large beer garden. Just had to down the beers fast. They get warm quick in plastic when it's 105. Game was great, fantastic seats, the roof was closed so the AC was kicking and we won. Ballpark eats were lacking, for my something special to the park I tried a Nach-yo dog (hot dog topped with cheese, sour cream and jalapeno). I thought it'd be way better. Afterwards, we went to Brookside Bar & Grille we had a couple rounds while playing darts. We got hungry so we moved over to the restaurant. We shared 50 wings and had nearly 20 left over. Their firestorm wings are pretty hot, we washed them down with a couple pitchers of Dos Equis. I suspect we filled up on beer and left little room for food. Shane and Frank played a couple more rounds of darts, I sat out after yet another embarrassing attempt earlier in the night.

Sunday's game drew a big crowd. There were many in attendence to see another White Sox win. After the game, we dropped Shane at home and said so long until next time. Fortunately we had a smooth (fire-free) drive home.

Chase Field has a retractable roof and real grass.





The park's claim to fame is the Party Pool & Spa



D'back mascots







Always funny to see first at bats for pitchers.



We saw Paul Konerko's 17, 18, 19 home runs, they happened on the 17th, 18th and 19th. This was #17.





It was neat that the background for each player was a Chicago landmark. It rotated between 5 or 6 different sights.

Winning, duh.

Our friend, Chris, joined Frank and I for our annual visit to see Shane and the White Sox in spring training. We hit the road about 3:30 on Friday. Our time change came early. We turned back the clocks as soon as we crossed over to Arizona. There is less construction since the last visit to Phoenix. We made the drive in 4.5 hours, but stopped for dinner at In-N-out in Kingman. It was our first double double of the year. Believe me when I say it hit the spot. Chris had just had it two days before so he wasn't nearly as thrilled as Frank and I. We pressed on, and arrived at Shane's. We settled in, and shared our fascination over Charlie Sheen's antics by showing them the "Winning Recipes" video.

His quotes set the tone for our whole weekend. That, and Five Guys innuendo, which we never tire of since we're all apparently 15, still. We went to Scoreboards, darts and our regular table was taken. We opted to play Buzztime Trivia to occupy our time while we slung back adonis juice, also known as Kronenbourg. The four of us had fun choosing names, all but Shane's were courtesy of Charlie's Sheens more popular lines... Warlock, Winduh, FSTBALL. Shane was taint. It took 20 tries before a name he suggested was actually accepted. He was seated between Frank and me, so I had to ask, "which one of us is the asshole and the dick?" He never did give me an answer, imagine that. After a few beers, the guys got snacky. It was early enough that the kitchen was still open, we ordered fried cheese curds, sweet potato fries and jalapeno caps. All of which we're surprisingly good. The caps gave me hiccups, I didn't realize they were truly spicy. Probably should've tried one before popping a handful in my mouth. Fortunately, the torture only lasted 10 minutes or so, although it felt like eternity. Hiccups are killer. We played more trivia and had a couple more beers. The music transitioned from country to rock, and then, non-stop rap, which turned us off. We left before last call, a rarity for us. I was too sober for Jack in the Box so I passed, but they all got food. Back at Shane's they ate, and we watched ridiculous videos on the internet. Afterwards, we got our beauty sleep so we'd be ready for our White Sox.

Saturday, once we were up and out we went to a Mexican restaurant for an early lunch. I cannot recall the name of the place. It was Americanized, edible, but nothing special. I had a cheese enchilada and corn tamale, Frank had a chimichanga. We did enjoy dining outdoors, it was 85 and gorgeous.

After lunch we drove out to Camelback Ranch, the new home of the Chicago White Sox spring training camp. Great park, with roomy seating. They even sell Vienna beef Chicago dogs.

















The White Sox tend to lose all the spring training games we catch. Saturday's game was no different. Win or lose it's an enjoyable outing. I love the intimate feel of the smaller parks. Plus, it's good fun. From now on we'll catch all spring training games at Camelback park, we liked it that much.

After the game, we went to Coasters and Castles for mini-golf. We played two courses. Frank, Chris and Shane bet on each hole. Good times. We worked up a hunger and decided on Dillion's BBQ for dinner. Shane had never been, but it's top rated. We had to wait for a table, we asked if there was a bar and we were directed around the corner. We finished our beers, and I began to wonder if they had been calling us. Frank went to check. Sure enough, our table was ready, they completely ignored the fact we said we'd be at the bar. We ordered, everyone but me got ribs, I ordered burnt ends since I never had it, it's basically leftover pieces of smoked brisket. We also ordered onion rings and toasted ravioli stuffed with jalapeno cheese. The starters were tasty! Then, confusion ensued. We were told they only had enough ribs for 2 orders, but after much back-n-forth then said they had enough. During this, we were told it was our fault for seating at 8:00, if we want ribs we should come earlier. Wow, great customer service. Everyone got what they ordered said and done. I did not like my burnt ends, they had great Mac-n-cheese, though. The ribs were nicely smoked. Not bad, but I'm so spoiled by the great value of Ellis Island's ribs.

After dinner, we stopped at Albertson's for a beer run. The guys played video games. I had a stomach ache and the games made me doze, so I went to bed shortly after. The guys stayed up and played a bit longer.

Sunday, we kept tradition and had an early lunch at Mr. Goodcents. They have footlong subs for $3.99. You can't beat it. A bit later, we went to Surprise Stadium for the Giants vs. Rangers game. We caught games there last year so we were familiar with the park, but we knew it'd be crowded but we didn't expect a sellout. It was like an ant farm with the crowd moving all around. I enjoy it better when it's relaxed. Anyway, I told Frank I was rooting for the Giants, so he chose to root for the Rangers. We had a good rivalry going between us.









Giants won! During the game, Frank went on a hunt for nachos. They didn't have any. How does a ballpark not have nachos? He came back with Italian sausage instead. The highlight was the peppers and onions. The sausage itself was so bad it made me question if it was Italian sausage. It could've passed for a bratwurst. Finding cinnamon roasted nuts was winning, however. I loved the nuts at the Cardinals football stadium these tasted just as good.

Back at Shane's we packed up and said so long until next time. We stopped near the Joshua tree forest for photos, it was the start of golden hour and Frank thought I should take advantage of the light. The bummer was much of the forest was fenced off.











After a few hours drive and another stop in Kingman for In-N-out we were home. I love spring training, it's a preview of what's to come. Not just with baseball, but the nice weather, too.