Cactus League MLB Spring Training 2024 Trip Report

[bama_ed]

What exactly are the Desert Tender sliders?

Joe it was as I suspected. And it was also today's lunch choice at Goodyear.



Note the hot sauce packets with the Skyline Chili brand flavor. Nice touch.

Again, our slugger Jose Ramierez was starting at third base.



The game was a good one with the Tribe generally ahead. I went for a walk around the perimeter in the 7th inning.









Two busses for the D-backs were just outside the fence ready to take them back to Scottsdale (ritzy area of Phoenix where they train).



The Goodyear wiffle ball field had some action this afternoon.



Got back to my seat to watch the conclusion. Cleveland had a 6-4 lead going into the top of the 9th and gave up 4 runs to Arizona in the visitor half of the 9th inning and my lovable losers threw the game 8-6. This puts the Tribe's record at 2-3 in spring training (not that spring training records matter).



I had hung around to do the Senior Stroll. Now that the end of the game had come, I joined the line forming down the 1st base concourse for my chance to step onto a field of dreams.

One more post.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

While a Senior Stroll around the bases sounds simple enough, there is still a little matter of the "Indemnification, Release, and Hold Harmless Agreement" with an extra helping of "Consent to Use of Image" to take care of before you can touch the field.



Ushers lined both sides of the base paths offering to take pics with our cameras. We entered near the 1st base coach's box and enjoyed the walk.



I stopped for pictures and made sure I touched all the bases including home plate.



Hey and I picked up some stadium cups in the stands on the way to the car after that.



It was a good day and now Day 5 of 7 is in the books. Attendance was 3,440 out of 10,311 capacity.

Bama Ed

PS - Tomorrow we play the Angels in Tempe (the longest drive to a stadium we will have). I've got to look up exactly where it is and how to get there in the morning.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

How were the chicken sliders? They look pretty decent.

Those fries make me angry though. Frozen fries are so lazy. Shoving a potato through a fry cutter takes seconds and it tastes so much better. Tired of all the places that go frozen.

<rant over...get off my lawn>

Glad you guys are having so much fun and the trip is successful. Hopefully you can hit up Las Cruces or El Paso on the way home. Some cool spots around there.

 

[bama_ed]

How were the chicken sliders? They look pretty decent.

Those fries make me angry though. Frozen fries are so lazy. Shoving a potato through a fry cutter takes seconds and it tastes so much better. Tired of all the places that go frozen.

<rant over...get off my lawn>

Glad you guys are having so much fun and the trip is successful. Hopefully you can hit up Las Cruces or El Paso on the way home. Some cool spots around there.

The sandwich (spicy chicken on a bun) was actually decent. I asked for a side of RANCH dressing (my wife is a southern girl who can put ranch on ANYthing).

But yeah, the fries, I'm with ya. I expected little and they delivered less. Thank god for the hot sauce. It's like giving a little pile of dirt some flavor before it goes into my belly.

Ed

PS - on the westward trip, Jack, we hit EP about 230p which is an in-between mealtime. We got to Las Cruces and stayed hitched up and walked to a Cracker Barrel for dinner (construction on I-10 north of EP in Texas had us in single file not moving for 30 minutes then only slow moving). On the way east, I have to drive 600 miles towing AND lose an hour heading back to Central Time so I will not be to sample EP delicasies on my way to I-20 for the night. Sorry buddy.

 

[bama_ed]

We are coming into turn 4 of our trip and can see the finish line in front of us.

Today was a day to drive to Tempe, AZ and Diablo Stadium there for the game between the Angels and the Indians. The Angels are the only team we play this week that trains alone (there are 15 teams in Arizona at 10 locations - 5 train by themselves and the other 10 teams share training between the remaining 5 locations).

Parking is a little tight over at Diablo Stadium but we got in about an hour before first pitch.



It is known for the small distinct hills ("buttes") behind the outfield to give it a distinctive view.



This is the team (Angels) that was originally owned by Gene Autry, the Singing Cowboy of the 1930s fame (and later). When MLB wanted to expand in the 1960s, they sold the Angel's franchise to Gene.

One of his more famous songs was "Back in the Saddle Again".

Although refurbed, Diablo Stadium is owned by the City of Tempe and is not up to par with the more recent stadium complexes.



No high teck scoreboard - a more traditional board with a small space at the bottom to show an ad or the name/number of the batter at the plate.





There is a small refreshment area in the left field corners. No bean bag games, no whiffle ball field, no beer garden. It is strictly old school basics and not much more.



Our seats were in the 10th row on the 1st base side. Seats were in the sun so after two innings we moved back in the section into the shaded rows.



Let's go for a walk down the left field line.



$18 nachos in an Angels batting helmet - good idea but I'm not an Angels fan (although I admired Rod Carew).



Continuing on ....





They did have a board with the starting lineups.



Next post we'll wrap this up.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Frankly, concessions at Diablo Stadium sucked.

Standard ballpark fare (not-warm-enough dogs, snacks & pretzels, overpriced beer and peanuts) was not up to standard after what I'd seen at Goodyear and Peoria. Not willing to settle for junk, I overpaid for a Chick Fil A spicy chicken sandwich (oh it was good but $18 for a sandwich and bag of potato chips?).

The Indians came out before the start to warm up (in the 3rd base dugout).



Angels coaches, players, and fans had a love-in in front of us before the first pitch.



Then we had the exchange of scorecards with the 4 blind mice at home plate before the start.



First pitch to the Tribe as the visiting team.



It's close quarters around home plate. Both teams have coaches sitting behind nets outside the dugouts.



Interestingly here, it's only 340' down the left field line (shorter than the other 2 ballparks I've seen here). It would be easy to yank a pitch over that close fence.



Cleveland lost 4-1 but it was never a contest since they didn't bring hardly any of their stars/starters. Attendance was called as 3,986 out of a capacity of 9,558 but I don't believe it. Must have been tix sold.

I'm trying to use up leftovers to feed us before we leave on Saturday. There was another beautiful sunset behind us towards Disneyland tonight.



Tomorrow (Friday our last full day here) is scrunched up. We will go to daily Mass again and because our Cleveland game versus the Dodgers is at 6pm, we will cook dinner at lunch (tilapia in panko crumbs). That will be the time we will do most packing up. Dinner at Camelback Ranch (Dodgers home) and back late at night and hitch up before sleep to get away VERY early on Saturday morning.

We DO have a fun activity planned tomorrow though.

Because of the late return and early get away, I won't post Friday's update until Saturday night when we will be on our way back (1600+ miles in 2.5 days on this path via Dallas).

Whoever cares, we will talk to you Saturday night. Day 6 of 7 is in the books.

Bama Ed

PS - today was the first ballpark I've had to pay to park at ($10). Not at Goodyear and not at Peoria. Another strike against Tempe Diablo Stadium.

PPS - it took us 45-50 minutes to get here this afternoon at noonish and 80-85 minutes to get back to our camper at 330pm this afternoon. We had to cross downtown Phoenix both times (5th largest metro in the US - very flat and spread out). I will say that at least traffic moved this afternoon even if it was at 35mph at times.

 

[bama_ed]

BTW we are close to Luke Air Force Base on the NW side of the Phoenix metro and we have jets flying over us during daylight hours and on the fringes of darkness in the mornings and evenings. Not a problem but they are regular in their schedule.

 

[champagne&disney]

Thanks for all these great updates. I've never been to Spring Training so it's really cool to learn a bit - esp the Cactus League since my beloved Braves have always been in Florida.

As a native Atlantan, my first job when I was 15 was at Chick-fil-A so it pains me to read that you paid $18 for that sandwich and chips. I don't believe the CFAs in Truist Park are even that expensive. My season tix are next to one so I'll have to check in a month!

If you ever want to come to ATL when the Guardians (RIP Indians) are in town, I'd be happy to give you my 2 tix for the games!

 

[bama_ed]

Thanks for the offer, @champagne&disney .

Some of the family are talking about coming over for the Sunday afternoon game that weekend.

Will think about that down the road. DW, who is not a sports fan, is only here because i am here. She "hit the wall" yesterday and pulled out a book to read in the stands.

So i am going to let this trip "breathe" for a while b4 i bring up the Braves game or else .

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Oh boy. Our last full day in Arizona was jam packed with fun and activity.

After attending morning mass and Stations of the Cross (a Lenten Friday tradition), we went back to the rv park to take down and pack up as much as we could in advance of our departure the next morning. The EZ up, for example. Breaking down the dinette and overhead storage rack. Then I cooked our "dinner for lunch" (since we would be at the 6pm Dodgers game at dinner time) with some pan fried tilapia in bread crumbs, chicken flavored rice, and canned peaches. The fish was excellent.

Then early in the afternoon, we headed ALL the way across downtown Phoenix (full speed Formula 1 training) for our one little bit of local sightseeing.

I want to thank @DL1WDW2 for the suggestion in our TRAIN Thread on this Camping Community Board: we went to the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park (actually in Scottsdale, AZ as a division of their city park system).

https://www.therailroadpark.com/

It has a carousel, a miniature (5:12) railroad with sit-on cars to ride in, three local historical depots that were relocated to this park, several old heavyweight baggage and passenger cars to walk through, extensive picnic pavilions, a large model railroad building, a steam loco set, and more. It was excellent at what it set out to do.

When you exit your car in the parking lot, you see engine #106 and tender from the old (real) Magma Arizona Railroad.



And the office/gift shop/ticket window location which serves as a starting point.



It only costs $3 per person (adult) to ride the carousel and same price for the mini sit-on train, the Paradise & Pacific Railroad (Paradise Valley is the town next to ritzy Scottsdale which has a 'Beverly Hills' feel about it). Everything else was free.

We rode the carousel first (it played Disney songs from Mary Poppins, Toy Story, and Lion King).





Then we went over to the ride-on which was pulled by a green diesel today.



We waited for it to pull in with its riders from the trip before ours.





And then into the station to unload them and load us.



ALL ABOARD!





And of we go (I was so excited ).





Past a scale Western Town over in the picnic pavilion area.







Let's roll to the next post.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

McCormick-Stillman has tracks available for the Live Steamers Club (sadly nothing happening there today). Those are big toys for big boys (1:8 scale). See the Photos/Videos page on their website.

http://www.scottsdalelivesteamers.com/home.html

Riding back to the Paradise & Pacific Station.





And into the station.



After walking through the small Scottsdale Railroad Museum and an old Santa Fe RR heavyweight baggage car and Pullman car, we went into the Model Railroad building. It has YUGE layouts of HO, O, and N scale trains, display cases for the Live Steamers and Z scale (there are separate clubs for these scales that use the park facility) and a G scale display in the entrance area overhead (no club - that's my scale).

G Scale overhead.





A look at the three big layouts O, HO, N:



I have lots of close-ups but I'll spare you those. This sign, though, I wholeheartedly agree with.



Cool diorama on the far end of the display room.



Also one cool piece of history was the Arizona box car from the Merci Train.



Short story is France was struggling in 1947 to recover after WWII. An American reporter organized Freedom Train(s) that traveled from the West Coast to the East Coast collecting supplies for the French (and Italians). More than 700 box cars of goods were put on cargo ships to cross the Atlantic.

The Italians showed their thanks by sending 3 statues to the United States. The French showed their thanks by sending 49 surplus WWI box cars loaded with typically French goods to each state in the Union (at the time). This Arizona car has been restored and is on covered outdoors display. (The Alabama car is at the North Alabama Railroad Museum in Huntsville).

Go see this Railroad Park if you are in the area.

Then we made a long trip at 4pm on a Friday afternoon to get to Camelback Ranch-Glendale for the Dodgers/Indians game.

Next post.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

This was our last spring training game (versus the Dodgers).



This stadium had the tighest (slowest/thorough) security because (probably) they have the biggest star in MLB on the Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani ($700M/10yr contract).



Gates opened before 5pm for the 6pm start so pre-game was in long shadows.











For those who don't follow baseball, Ohtani is a Japanese pitcher/hitter who before this year was with the Angels. But he is a great pitcher AND hitter which is a rare combination so for the games he does not start as the pitcher in, he plays as the designated hitter. And he has a huge fan following and international media following. Witness the fans/media lining the corner of the stands where Dodger players entered the field before the game.



The squeels went into overdrive when he entered the field.

The game was well attended. Here was the first pitch to Cleveland as the visiting team (both teams were starting with their regular star lineups for the most part).



When the Dodgers came up to bat in the 1st, Ohtani was second in the lineup as the Designated Hitter. He is tall and a speciman - he drew a walk.





I took lots of pics but will spare you the crowd scenes and night pics.

One cool feature is that the live organist who plays at Dodger Stadium during the regular season also plays LIVE between innings on camera and it's neat to hear modern tunes on the baseball organ.



After Cleveland batted in the 8th inning they were leading 4-1 (stars/starters for both teams only played the first 5 innings or so) but the Dodgers scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th and my loveable losers lost again 6-4. There were 11,762 as the announced attendance with a capacity of over 13,000.

Day 7 of 7 is in the books.

Let's talk about today in the next post to wrap up today as well.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Got on the road in the dark this morning just before 6am.

There is a rest stop in Arizona close to the New Mexico line that is surround for only a few miles by unique boulder droppings. I saw it on the westward drive and stopped to take some pics on the eastward trip today.











Interesting formation, no? Dinosaur droppings (LOL) was my first guess.

Of course, no trip would be complete without some faux pas. I have no idea when this happened today.



Oooopsie. Did I scrape a post at a gas station? Run over something at high speed that got spit out the back? Oh well, something new to repair. It's been a whole month since I had to do that.

Drove 684 miles today from Buckey, AZ to Pecos, TX via El Paso. We have over 600 miles to go tomorrow to get to Shreveport (thankfully going through Dallas on a Sunday). Then about 400 miles to home on Monday.

This was my view in my side mirror for 10.5 hours today (and came back to Central time so more like 11.5) which was mostly a boring, high speed, empty highway drive (but gorgeous day/weather and beautiful mountains - some snow capped).



Let's all sleep in tomorrow morning.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Home this afternoon after an overnight stop in Shreveport. Total round trip mileage was 4,030 miles with an average mpg of 15.5. We had fabulous weather during the entire two weeks and we were happy with the way things turned out.

Cleveland has the first pick in the MLB draft this summer and I'm pretty sure (since they need hitting more than pitching and sooner rather than later) that they will pick a college kid who has a high batting average who can contribute sooner rather than a great high school pick who needs some development time. Maybe the Tribe can sneak into the playoffs as a wild card team this coming season and create something they can build on in the future.

Thanks for reading along on my bucket list odyssey. I have more bucket list trips in the back of my mind but they require a passport!

We're going to do several piles of laundry and sit back to read @Teamubr and his exploits in Florida as he follows his Cardinals. Alabama has home games this week Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat, and Sun which (if I can attend those) would be 12 games (CLE/AL) in 16 days (although I think I will have to miss Friday).

Too much of a good thing?

Is there such a thing?

That's like saying don't eat too much chocolate cake.

But would I still try?

Let's hope the rain stays away from @Teamubr this weekend.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/mlb-spring-training-2024-trip-report-east-coast-style.3940917/

Bama ED

PS - next camping trip is mid-April at Gulf State Park. Lakeside campsite, seafood, bicycles, puzzles, sunshine galore!

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Great trip. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[2goofycampers]

Thanks for the TR. Loved seeing some pictures from out west.

 

[4077]

Great report... thanks for sharing!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

I love the straw hat!
Ratings:
. . . Straw Hat = "10"
. . . Model = "3"

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Did you have to buy another pull-along-trailer for all the souvenirs?

 

[bama_ed]

Did you have to buy another pull-along-trailer for all the souvenirs?

Rusty, I actually held back pretty well:

1. Stadium cups from spring training I pictured
2. Two Jacobs Field (Cleveland Stadium) concession stand cups (1995) with Chief Wahoo from ebay
3. One spring training t-shirt

None of it says Cleveland "Guardians" either. It either says just Cleveland or Cleveland Indians.

Ed

PS - I had to save my money for gas around Phoenix. Most expensive I paid in my area was $3.399 a gallon. Cheapest coming/going was $2.699 close to home here.