Kj's Baseball Collection: Rockies Spring Training 2010

I got an okay looking Spring Training 2010 ball with a Rockies logo on it. One sides has the CR Rockies logo. The other side has the logo in a circle that has cactus in the background and says Tucson, AZ. The other strip has a Spring Training 2010 Arizona/Florida logo.

They had no mini bats, except the exact one Mik got this summer, so he ended up with a Rockies flag design ball he thought was cool.

Spring Training 2010: Hi Corbett Field

Today we went to Hi Corbett Field for Spring Training. We were planning to see the Dbacks at the Rockies, but at game start it was raining, windy, and cold for Tucson standards in March, so we let Mik make the decision. He may be a Dbacks fan, but he sure did not want to stay. Turned out to be a good decision, as it ended up being called after 7 innings and was mostly drizzling and raining all afternoon anyways.

On the trip rain delays did not stop us from sticking it out, but it does not really matter to us when we have been to the ballpark countless times in the fifteen years we have lived in Tucson. It is sad that the ballpark is going to no longer be used for spring training when it is the last remaining field in use that was used when the Cactus League started back in 1947. That streak will end after this spring training and as far as I am concerned the Cactus League loses its touch with history and becomes entirely worthless. They should at the very least rename the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Phoenix Diamondbacks next season, as the team is no longer for the whole state.

Car Sticker Update: Colorado Rockies

We had a little trouble finding a sticker at the Rockies, but we did end up with a bumper sticker style one. We have mostly tried not to go with this style, but at least this one is a good looking one with three different styles of Rockies logos. This sticker put the National League side of the car ahead 7 to 4. Yeah, that does not add up right to the number we should have after the Rockies being Game 12, but I will explain with the next photo of the American League side in the Royals Car Sticker Update later.

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Silver and Purple Rockies

None of the balls in the selection for the Rockies was as purple as I would have liked. Nor did they have any with Coors Field, which was really odd when they had a whole lot of Coors Field merchandise including car stickers, pins, mouse pads, t-shirts, playing cards, etc. I ended up getting the baseball that is purple on one strip and silver on the other strip. It has the Rockies mountain logo on both strips.

Mik’s Mini Bat Collection: Purple Rockies

At the Rockies Mik choose the Purple colored mini bat with the Colorado Rockies Mountain logo. There was another cool one that had the logo and said Baseball with Altitude, but it was not purple and since the Dbacks are no longer purple this was the only chance for him to get a purple mini bat to make his collection as colorful as possible, so he went with the purple one.

Smashed Pennies: Coors Field

Coors Field has a penny machine right outside their Team Shop. Mik choose the one with a dinosaur and the Rocky Mountains and says Colorado Rockies underneath. I choose the one with a baseball that has the CR logo and says Colorado Rockies Baseball Club.

Accessibility Review: Coors Field

Coors Field may be accessible, but we seemed to have the luck of finding the bad parts to it. First of all we did not park in the field’s parking because we had been downtown since the morning and got all day parking for only $6. When we headed to the field we found out they only open two gates two hours before the game and so we headed to the one near Gate A. We ended up having to go down a bunch of steps as we walked around the park to get to that gate. It turns out that gate is right next to their very large handicap parking lot, so at least if you do park there you are next to the gate that you can go in early. However, at the end of the game we ended up stuck being let out at that level and found out you cannot get to the other side of the field without going up the steps or back into the park to level on the main concourse level. At least they did not mind letting us back in to get to the main concourse to go the direction we needed to go.

Our seats were in section 305. The section has sight line issues that cause you to not be able to see deep right field and some of deep centerfield. At times we could not even see the right fielder because they were playing deep. Also, it seems that must be where the bullpens are located because we sure could not see them from our seats. At least we had a good view of the scoreboard and the bar in front of the section was not too high. Of course, Mik was happy enough with their being cup holders up at his reaching height.

Mik’s Food Scrapbook: Coors Field

Mik decided to go with something different this time and skipped the hot dogs all together at Coors Field. Instead he just tried the sliders and fries. He really enjoyed the mini burgers and finished them up pretty quickly. He then only ate about half the fries. He liked the fries, but by the time he got to them he was full from the sliders. I could not even tempt him to try a bite of my butter tornado pretzel, although he really was not missing much since again it was a pretzel that needed salt, but at least the dough was very gourmet.

Game 12: Seattle Mariners 4 @ Colorado Rockies 6

We got to the ballpark not long before the gates opened two hours before the game. More on what we did this morning later. Right before they were to open the gates for the game it started to rain and they let us in and corralled us in the stairwell/elevator area before taking our tickets. We then were let up into the park, but they really only open the bleacher section 2 hours before the game for batting practice, which there was none of since it was pouring by this time. We just waited a half hour for the main concourse to open and go to the Team Shop before going to our seats.

By the time we got to our seats the rain had stopped and the sun came out again. There were a few sprinkles during the game, but mostly pretty good. As soon as we got back to the car, though, it started raining steadily again. Good thing it did not go to the bottom of the 9th or we would have been walking back to the car in the rain or waiting it out with Mik probably yelling at the stadium. Both ends of the game came close to a rain delay, but we got lucky and totally avoided that at least for one more game.

The game was pretty exciting with the Mariners taking an early lead and then the Rockies slowly battling back to go ahead and end up winning. It was also nice to see the Rockies starting pitcher go all nine innings. The past three games of our trip we have seen the Rockies win and the Rockies themselves are on a really hot streak now having 9 wins in a row. Mik kind of wanted them to lose since their hot streak has put them ahead of the Dbacks, but as far as the trip goes he is always happier for the game to end faster and hence the Rockies winning without needing a bottom of the 9th was just as good. I was kind of rooting for the Rockies just because I do not really care about the Mariners and the Rockies were the home team this time. Of course, I liked them beating the Cardinals and Brewers, too, since those teams are in the Cubs division.

Now it is still raining as we are driving back to the KOA. Boy is it nice we have a kabin tonight, too. Hitting the road for Kansas City tomorrow. I am looking forward to Sunday and going to a game that the Rockies are not playing at. It is getting a little boring seeing them when they are not one of our favorite teams. Although, they do spring train at one of my favorite ballparks (Hi Corbett in Tucson)

Game 11: Colorado Rockies 3 @ Milwaukee Brewers 2

We left for Milwaukee around 2:15pm and got to Miller Park around 4pm. Parking was easy and close as it as been at most places. The gates did not open until only 90 minutes before the game so we had a lot of time to kill. Even though we walked all the way around the park we still ended up waiting in line for the gates to open for over 30 minutes. At least we did get a chance to walk around the park, as they have an interesting Walk of Fame with home plate markers for the retired numbers and other key figures in Brewers history. With the amount of crowds they do get already lining up it seems odd they do not open up early for fans to see more of batting practice.

Once inside the park we hit the team shop and then found the elevator up to our seats. Our seats were kind of crappy, as this stupid Mascot Clubhouse juts out over the field perfectly blocking the scoreboard from sight. Sure, I can live with the scoreboard being blocked in cheap seats because you are right below it and such, but this added thing that could easily have been placed farther away and back is just unacceptable and annoying. At least the sight of the field only included the warning track in left field being blocked, which was not an issue in this game as nothing went there.

Mik got very excited when we got to our seats and realized the roof had been shut and it was another indoor baseball game. When we had driven up to the park the roof was still open, but rain was forecasted and it did sprinkle some while we were inside at the game. Most people think baseball should be played in outdoor stadiums and to some extent I agree, but Mik is totally the kind that thinks baseball is an indoor sport just as much as his beloved basketball since he has grown up going to the BOB/Chase Field. He would have loved the Twins game just for it being indoors if the handicap section had not turned out so horrible. It is kind of funny though that he loves indoor baseball and at the same time the Twins are counting down to outdoor baseball.

The game was not all that interesting today. Not much good pitching or good batting. Mik was rooting for the Brewers since the Rockies have been hot and helped the Dbacks end up in the bottom of their division. I was rooting for the Rockies since the Brewers are on the top of the Cubs division. The Brewers got an early lead with Counsell hitting a lead off triple in the next batter batting him in on a ground out. They also scored another run in the second with a home run by Gamel. With the help of three doubles in the top of the 7th the Rockies went ahead 3-2 and it remained scoreless for both teams after that.

Game 10: Colorado Rockies 10 @ St. Louis Cardinals 1

Today we drove down to St. Louis from Chicago. Mom tagged along and Dad got her a ticket right next to us yesterday when he called to get her a ticket. Originally she was supposed to join us for a few days in July to go to the World of Coca Cola on her birthday and then the Braves game, but she already found out that she would not be able to join us then. Thus when the chance came to join us this weekend she did this as an alternate. She does need to be back to catch a flight in the evening tomorrow, though, so we are skipping the Field of Dreams and going straight back to Chicago. We decided it was more worth it to have Mom go with to a game than see the Field of Dreams. Plus Mik will be happy for more in Chicago time.

Before the game we set up the tent at the KOA as it was pretty much on the way. We still ended up at the game half hour before the gates opened. We killed the time by walking over to the old Bowling Museum, which is now a Nike apparel shop with St. Louis Cardinals clothing including a lot of 2009 All Star stuff. Mom got Mik a zip up sweatshirt with the All Star logo and me a t-shirt with the All Star Logo.

The game was pretty good, although quite windy. The seats were in a good location. Dad and I walked over trying to find some food options, but found that most of the places have different names, but the exact same menu. Basically very little variety, especially for things without meat and the pizza I ended up getting was crap.

This was the first of three games in a row we will see the Rockies play in. They won this one 10 to 1 including three homers with two being by the same player. The Cardinals did at least get one run on the board with a homer and of course it had to be when I went to the restroom and I missed the celebration fireworks. Overall interesting game to watch. Mik and Dad were disappointed as they wanted the Cardinals to win since the Rockies are in the Dbacks division, but I wanted the Rockies to win since the Cardinals are in the Cubs division (seriously I really doubt Dad's devotion to being a Cubs fan).