Kj's Baseball Collection: International Minor League All Stars Autographed Ball

Last Monday before the Home Run Derby at Hi Corbett, they had all the All Stars for the International Minor League All Star Game (Golden Baseball League vs. Northern League) available for getting autographs from. I got a Golden Baseball League official ball from the Team Shop and got about half of the All Stars to sign it. I ran out of room on the ball before I could get everyone. Still a pretty cool souvenir to add to my collection.

Hi Corbett Field: International Minor League All Star Home Run Derby 2010

Last Monday (July 12, 2010) Dad and I went to the International Minor League All Star Home Run Derby and Fan Fest at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, AZ. It was fun to go to a Home Run Derby even if it was not the Major League Baseball one or even MLB minor league players. Hi Corbett is pretty interesting to see players try to hit homers at because it is not the type of ballpark you tend to see homers in during a regular game.

Cliff Brumbaugh of the Edmonton Capitals (in the Golden Baseball League) beat Jacob Blackwood of the Kansas City T-Bones (in the Northern League) with 11 home runs (Jacob went first and got 10) in the final round. It was pretty exciting to watch the homers, although most of the players got none or only 1 or 2 in the first round. Even Cliff got 0 in the second round, but his 11 from the first round carried over to the 2nd (not the finals!) and allowed him to continue to the finals as the Golden Baseball League representative.

Hi Corbett Field: Chico Outlaws 3 @ Tucson Toros 4

Chico Outlaws @ Tucson Toros, July 7, 2010
Originally uploaded by kjscrafts

I love Hi Corbett Field in Tucson even if it is a small, old, and low amenity ballpark. It may have only a small scoreboard and a few concession stands, but the seating options are all quite good. I like the bleachers even though the closer seats are only a few bucks more for Toros games. Besides there is never that much of a crowd at Toros games and you can seat hop, especially during the middle of the week like when we went on Wednesday, July 7, 2010, to see the Toros.

It was 100 degrees at the 7pm game start time, but it is a dry heat and it does not seem that bad to me, especially since I spent all of June dealing with hot and humid weather and Texas. Most of the time I do not pay attention to the temperature at game start and end, but it is something we always like to do when we go to Hi Corbett. It is such an easy thing to do, since it is one of the few things to look at on the scoreboard. By the way it was 93 degrees when the game ended around 10pm.

The July 7, 2010, Tucson Toros game was pretty interesting. In the sixth inning there was a real quick, but kind of hard rain shower. However, unlike the wimps of Major League Baseball (i.e. Cubs delaying start when rain was forecasted and that rain never happened in Game 16 of our trip last summer) they never stopped play. There was a fun run down play between second and third in the bottom of the 6th around when the rain stopped. The best part of the game, though, was the bottom of the 10th, although it was kind of annoying that the Toros allowed the Outlaws to tie the game up in the top of the 9th.

In the bottom of the 10th the pitcher for the Outlaws committed two errors making it easy for the Toros to score a run and win the game. The first error was throwing it poorly to 1st base letting the runner not only get on base, but to 2nd base. He then tried to pick off the runner at 2nd and instead threw the ball into center field and allowing the runner to get to third.

Kj's Baseball Collection: Dbacks Opening Day 2010

At Opening Day yesterday, I got a souvenir baseball in honor of Opening Day 2010 with the Padres and Dbacks logos. Mik had hoped to find a mini bat, but they did not have one and he settled for a souvenir pin.

Mik Food Scrapbook: Chase Field All-You-Can-Eat Section

Mik loved sitting in the All-You-Can-Eat section yesterday at Opening Day. He loved the hot dogs and had three of them. He also enjoyed the potato chips and popcorn.

Opening Day 2010: San Diego Padres 3 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks 6

Yesterday we went to Opening Day at the Dbacks. It will probably be the only game the three of us go to together this season, although Dad and Mik are definitely going to the August 7 game this season to get the Gonzo bobblehead.

After 32 relatively smooth experiences last year just getting into the ballpark was a pain in the butt this time. First off, the tickets were mailed to the wrong address and ended up back at the Dbacks, so we had to pick them up at will call, which is not something you want to have to do on Opening Day or any other sellout day. There is a specific window for Accessible ticket sales, etc. We had to wait a while to get to the front despite only having one group in front of us. They were buying a 10 ticket plan deal, so it understandably took a while. However, it then took 30 minutes for us to get our tickets because they had filed them based on the very wrong spelling of our last name. Thus an hour after getting to the ballpark we finally got inside.

By then the Team Shop was ridiculous, so we could not browse, especially with Mik in his wheelchair. We quickly aborted that and later sent Dad to the Team Shop on the Club Level, which was not that crowded.

We sat in the All-You-Can-Eat section, which I think is new this season or is at least rather recent. The wheelchair seating is located in the area with the food and drinks, which is basically some suites converted for the food service purpose. The section was never specifically meant for wheelchairs, so it is kind of awkward with no numbering for the spots and Dad ending up sitting in a folding chair right above the steps that lead to the one row of seats in front of the wheelchair seating. At least the ushers are helpful, though.

The game was overall not as exciting as Mik and I would have liked, as we like to see better pitching and less hits. However, one of the most exciting things we have ever seen in person did happen, as we saw Drew hit an in the park home run for the Diamondbacks. Of course, Mik was also happy to see the Dbacks win and then also rub it in that the out of town scoreboard showed my Nats lost 11 to 1.

All the Ballparks Car Windows Mounted on Wall

Dad was going to take the stickers all off the car at the end of Spring Training 2010. Instead, though, we replaced the side windows using some of the leftover money from the trip budget (we spent way less on gas and food than budgeted). Now the windows are mounted in my bedroom.

For the most part I am going to keep them as they ended up after being on the car for almost a year. However, we lost the Cardinals sticker after we got home in August and I think I will replace that to have it complete team logo wise. I am not going to fix the missing letters from the words, though, as it gives it the used look showing they really were on the car for a while.