Spring Training

The end of February means two things for me: 1) my birthday is right around the corner and 2) Spring Training is about to begin. It wasn't until 2002 when I realized I could celebrate both of them at the same time.

One advantage of going to FPU was that Spring Break was always the first week of March. This allowed John Wiebe (who was born the day after me) and I to plan our own "birthday trip" to Spring Training our junior year. Our plan was to spend one week in Arizona watching as much baseball as we could while sticking to a college budget.

This article got me thinking about all the great memories of the trip. The very first game we went to on the trip was between the Giants and the Cubs. We had misplanned our time and arrived only a few minutes before the start of the game. A car pulled up next to us as we walked to the ticket window. Out pops the Giants centerfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo in his game uniform and cleats. We were shocked. This is something that should only happen before a Little League game, not a MLB game.

Some other memorable moments were watching all the Diamondbacks laughing at Randy Johnson while he signed autographs, being the only ones around to collect all of the Chicago White Sox home run balls during batting practice, always buying the cheap seats but sneaking in to sit around the player's families, and watching an entire game with only the backscreen seperating us from Mike Scioscia and Mickey Hatcher.

The intimacy of Spring Training was like nothing I have ever experienced as a sports fan. It has been three years since the last time I have gone to a Spring Training game and I hope to go again soon.