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24 Hour Trip to Spring Training (Warning: LONG!)

Legend_Of_Joey

By Legend_Of_Joey
in Orioles Talk

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Legend_Of_Joey Hangout Grand Counsel

Legend_Of_Joey

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*Please note: This is not a scouting report in any way, shape, or form. This is just a detailed writing of the challenges and fun times that were endured during a quick trip to the Phillies at Orioles Spring Training game this past week on March 10th*

 

“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” the wife says for the fifth time today as she drives us to BWI.

Honestly…I can’t either. But her birthday was only 2 days earlier and I apparently did really good with the selection of an hour of time for her at Massage Envy, lunch at an Irish Pub, and dinner/show at Medieval Times.

That, or she was as sick of the Maryland weather as I was and knew I would have gone alone anyway, so she wanted to supervise me.

It had already been a long day. Up at 5 am for work and running out the door at 3:51 PM so we can catch this flight to Tampa, I let her drive the whole 5 minutes to the airport, since she would be driving us home in about 24 hours anyway.

When I first met her 7 years ago, she wasn’t into baseball. She still wasn’t as much into it 4 years ago. Then, a little more than 3 years ago, I went and got a career ending injury in a car accident and was out of work due to Workman’s Comp incompetence almost all of 2016. During that time, I kept going to Frederick Keys and Bowie Baysox games (even threw in a few road trips to Norfolk and one to Delmarva, along with some Orioles games) to the point where she thought I was seeing someone else. Well, I was…Future Orioles players. When she started coming to games with me later in the season and saw how ushers knew me and how I had mentioned her, along with how nice several players were when they saw us (including a current Orioles player that I think you all already know the name of), she became a fan and actually likes going to games, along with meeting the players.

Last year, I was able to convince her that a trip to Spring Training would be good, since no one can really argue with “Florida in March,” especially when it was snowing here and she had just had a great birthday week in Las Vegas…Come to think about it, I think she uses her birthday as my way to bribe her to let me go to these things….

Anyway, since it was so fun last year, she agreed to a condensed, 24 hour trip. Nothing like waking up at 5 am, working until 4pm (ish…), hopping on a flight, getting to Tampa and finding out the rental car was doing through Orlando (a trip is never “official” until there is some issue with the rental car when I book it…), and finally, speeding through the state to get to Sarasota.

Thanks to the wonders of things, the first day finally ended around 11 PM, me falling asleep almost as soon as I turned out the light, then promptly waking her up with my snoring, something I only do on vacations for some reason. I’m surprised she hasn’t been on “America’s Most Wanted” yet. The good news is that we were only 15 minutes from Ed Smith Stadium!

Thanks to the magic of “time,” we got to lose an hour of sleep. Feeling only slightly less tired, a lackluster shower (temperature was fine, water pressure was not…) did help a bit. Checking out was simple and we were on the road! Pulled up to Ed Smith Stadium and parked next to the Mexican restaurant there, whose name escapes me. There wasn’t much of a crowd and I picked up our tickets from Will Call. I figured the place would be packed with this being a game against the Phillies, but the early line up showed Bryce Harper decided against this trip. Oh well, more room to walk around!

Going inside, I realized 2 things: This was her first time at the stadium (with this being my second, except I only spent about 3 innings there before due to a flight…) and Phillies batting practice was still going on, while I had left my glove at home.

Taking our life into our own hands, we headed out to the left field area. I did this under the guise of “hey, let’s see the food options over here” since we hadn’t eaten yet. It worked, until I also said “it’d be cool if a ball came near by” and the Phillies batter obliged with 2 line drives right at us. So, back to the concourse we went before either a ball or her ended my existence.

We settled on some cheese burgers and chips in one of the “open air” stands, which was pretty good. I also attempted to show off at the radar gun machine, where you can win a prize if you have the fastest pitch in your age group after the 6th inning. How did I do? Well, I was the first one in my age group to throw, so my name was on the board. Then the next person to throw was in my age group and just like that, my name vanished. Oh well, the money went to charity, according to my ego.

After walking to the top area of the stadium and eating in peace (and in shade,) we spotted two friends who had also made the trip, though for a longer stay. This was a father and daughter, who we met in Bowie when we sat next to each other and both had signs cheering on Austin Wynns. The mutual joke was “we might be the only 4 people here who know who he is.” I don’t think we were that far off at the time. But our friendship has grown and it was nice to finally see them, even if it wasn’t a total surprise.

We made our way down to them, second row from the field before pre game warm ups. The girl had her binder of cards, her dad had their team helmet, ready to add signatures. I had my Topps 2019 Heritage card, with Paul Fry, Cedric Mullins, and Austin Wynns on it, ready for an autograph. The wife? She squeezed her way up front to say hi to the players she knew. Several came out and signed for our friends (Rio Ruiz, Chance Sisco, Renato Nunez, Joey Rickard (who my wife talked to for a bit. She thinks his eyes look gorgeous. I didn’t know he had eyes…) along with Doug Brocail and Tim Cossins, who is hilarious), before I spotted Wynns and Little Yaz. Yaz came over first and signed for the kid and others while Wynns talked with some of the guys in the bullpen, before coming over our way. He stopped and chatted with us for a bit, giving the wife a hug, me a handshake, my friend a handshake, and the daughter a hug. Asked us how everything was, made sure we were good. Asked about the oblique and he said it was coming along, he just hated the timing of it. Asked if he could sign my card and was surprised that Topps had issued something with him on it. We all said our goodbyes and he talked with others around us, making sure to get the kids who asked for autographs to learn how to say “please” for other players.

Not long after, I thought my wife was going to jump up and down out of the stadium, as Cedric Mullins came out of the clubhouse. She grabbed my card and sharpie, ready for him, which was fine. I have the worse luck with Mullins. I tried interviewing him a few times last year for this site. A rain out and then him getting called up the day before we were going to do the interview was one fun time. Another time, he came over to talk with me before the game and a coach called him away as he was walking over. But this time, he came on over to where we were and was talking with us for a bit. Signed the card, had a good chat with my wife and joked with us about how they want him to bunt more, which was something they didn’t have him doing in Bowie. Told him I think I saw him bunt once in Bowie…Or maybe it was a check swing that just worked out. Got a good laugh from him, while my wife was smiling more than she had before.

Now down to 1 player, I didn’t have much hope since it was Paul Fry. Nothing against him, I just hadn’t seen him come out yet and I didn’t see any pitchers walking past. That was, until a few minutes before the National Anthem. Fry and the rest of the pitchers came out of the bullpen area to high five each other, before Fry led the group towards the dugout. No one was saying anything, so I gave a loud call out of “hey Paul! Can you please sign my card?” Sure enough, over he came with a smile and a “gotta make it quick.” “No problem, it’s a small picture.” He laughed, saw the card and said “wow, this is pretty cool!” and signed it, with a big “thank you” from me. My wife called out “thanks Papa Frita!” as he started to leave, which got him to stop dead in his tracks, turn out, and give out a giant smile and a “no problem!” He really is one of my favorite players too.

One thing we did notice was just how big a lot of the players seemed to have gotten during the off season. I remember a picture I saw recently of former Frederick Key Jeremy Nowak that he had posted on his Instagram when Spring Training started this year. He talked about how he lost almost 25 pounds between Spring Training and the end of the regular season in Frederick and talked about how you HAVE to be in great shape in the Spring to get through the grind of the whole season. Remembering that, it made a lot of sense that these guys were so bulked up now, as they will most likely lose double digit weight by the time the end of September rolls around.

Making our way back to our seats, we decided to just hang out at the top of the stadium, as our seats were in the sun and between several…Less than skinny people. This wasn’t a problem, as a nice breeze was coming through and we were able to stand in the shade and at a table. From here, we were able to watch Josh Rogers do pretty good, striking out 4 and only allowing a home run. The place filled up quickly and it was announced that it was a sell out, which was pretty cool.

Walking around the stadium a bit during the game, we realized a few things: There really isn’t a bad spot there as everywhere gets you great views. More people need to learn what a “shower” and “deodorant” are though, as we had a few “rough” moments with people nearby….Also, the stadium reminded the wife a bit of Delmarva, as far as the look goes. Can’t say I disagree and it’ll be interesting to see how Delmarva looks this season with their upgrades.

With is being in the 80’s and us coming from the high 30’s, we decided to get some Dippin’ Dots and relax while watching the game from the concourse. Here, we were able to watch Stewart drive in Villar for the first run of the game. Made a note about how Wilkerson is really struggling at the plate and doesn’t look comfortable. Not sure if his swing is off or what, but it doesn’t look like I remember from Frederick and Bowie. Also on a scary note, I saw 3 people wheeled out of the stadium. All were elderly. It seemed like the heat got to them, so please be careful when you are down there!

Did have a fun moment when Tanner Chleborad came into the game for Rogers. Told the wife that Chleboard was coming in and she goes “who?” Told her it was the pitcher from Bowie. Apparently, I said that when some people walked by and making some noise, because her eyes got wide and she goes “what did you call him?” “PITCHER.” “OHHH!!!”  So…Sorry if I jinxed you Tanner, but I know you aren’t a complainer about stuff.

Not the best time pitching from him, but I think you might see him in Baltimore in two seasons. Tall, lanky righty who has been really good in the pen for Frederick and Bowie. Doesn’t have the power or pedigree of Kline and Harvey, but could end up being a better version of Ryan Meisinger.

I was impressed with Sucre on defense. He made a couple of throws to try and pick off some runners and might have had one at second. It was really close and might have been a review during the regular season. If Wynns does start on the IL, Sucre seems like the logical defensive choice.

Wilkerson needs to do something about his hitting, but his defense all over was good. Made an outstanding play at first on a low throw, where he went into a FULL split and scooped the ball up. I got hurt just looking at the split.

Moutcastle got in an inning or 2 at 3rd and had a low throw to first. The throw wasn’t that far as he was close up on the grass, but it didn’t have much behind it and Stevie caught it around shin level. Later on, Mountcastle got some time at first and wasn’t able to scoop up a low throw in the dirt from Reinhiemer. He is still learning first, so not gonna hold it against him.

Diaz has a very good bat and went 0-3, but the swing looked good. Rickard drove the ball very well, while him and Stewart benefited from some bloop hits that just missed the diving outfielders for doubles. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

Did get to see Fry come in a pitch and he got 6 up and 6 down in 2 innings. Really happy about that.

Wasn’t too happy with Araujo. I don’t know if he is still recovering from his forearm strain, but his ball didn’t see to have any velocity or movement. He was great in the Winter Leagues, but hasn’t been good here. Gave up 3 runs, including a long home run that turned out to be the difference. If they keep him for 17 days, he will be a project in Bowie to get him right.

Jomar Reyes got some time at 3rd and had a rocket hit towards him. Tried to backhand the ball along the right side and missed completely, which got into the corner for a double. I don’t think he really had a chance at it anyway, as hard as it was hit. He didn’t get to bat.

Cervenka doesn’t seem like the same guy I saw in Bowie. I don’t know if it is the weight gain (looks like he put on a sizeable amount of muscle), but he doesn’t look to be moving the same behind the plate and his swings don’t seem to have much effort to them. Popped up on the first pitch he saw into foul territory to end the game.

After the game, there wasn’t a whole lot going on. Met up with our friends again near the Players Parking Lot so out friends daughter could knock out some more autographs. Joked with her dad about the 3 player card I managed to get signed. Earlier in the week, I had ordered 2 of them from EBay and was going to give him one, when he went into a card shop and saw it that same day and bought it. Well, he thought he left it at the hotel room when we were inside the stadium and found it later in his backpack when he was putting something away.

A bunch of players left and stopped to sign for the girl, including Brady Anderson. Also saw Bobby Dickerson and Paco Figueroa leaving together and Gabe Kapler headed out, still in his uniform. One highlight was an Orioles player walking out with his team bag and a “to go” container of food. We all looked at him for a minute, trying to figure out who he was. He walked out from the parking lot instead of driving and then stood on the sidewalk with us, waiting on his ride. My friends daughter took up the courage to ask who he was and he ended up signing for her, seemingly happy that someone cared enough about him. It was DJ Snelten. Not a house hold name, but he was very courteous. Once it got close to 5 PM and the line of cards was down to none, we decided to go to the Mexican place right across from the front of Ed Smith Stadium. I don’t remember the name of it, but if you are in the area and want a good meal, this place was it. The shredded chicken enchiladas were VERY good and filling. The lady even gave me a bottle of very hot sauce to try and it had a big kick to it. Didn’t like it much as it was just heat and no flavor though.

Once we said our goodbyes, I raced us off to the airport and drop off the car. Once at the terminal, we found out our flight was delayed from 10 to 11:30, which made for a LONG trip. Ended up falling asleep several times on the flight (and not snoring) before we landed around 1:30. Thankfully the wife was driving because I don’t remember the trip home. Finally made it in and showered before going to bed close to 3 am.

A trip that started a little more than 24 hours earlier had finally come to a conclusion.

Even though that time was exhausting, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. If anyone has ANY thoughts of wanting to go, even for a day, I say “DO IT!” The stadium is beautiful (how can you hate palm trees and baseball?) the fans were passionate, the players are super nice, and it just makes you feel good!

Though next time, I think I’ll want to stay a bit longer. Just gotta make sure the wife has a great birthday first!

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Legend_Of_Joey Hangout Grand Counsel

Legend_Of_Joey

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12 minutes ago, luismatos4prez said:

Cool stuff! You've gotten to know some the minor leaguers decently well going to their games I take it?

A bit, yeah.

What mainly helped was going to a bunch of Frederick Keys games and when a player got promoted to Bowie, I was the only one who knew who they were and would call out of them (Wynns, Wilkerson, Chleborad, Sawyer, Grimes, ect mainly) and then just talking with them a bunch, person to person, not "autograph guy to player."

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