Spring Training 2010 Plans

This is a sad year for spring training for us, as it is the final year of having teams in Tucson. I was totally surprised to find out about the Dbacks and Rockies moving to a new spring training facility in the Phoenix area when we went to our final 2009 game (Dback Encore Game). I do not think I will go to a Dbacks home game this season due to the team moving their spring training, but I might still go for the a Nats game at Chase Field.

We have rarely gone to more than one spring training game in a season. Last year we did not even go to one game, as we could not decide on what game to go to since the White Sox left and we had been going to the Cubs @ White Sox game for most of the seasons the White Sox were in Tucson. This year we have tickets to three games. Mik only wanted to go to two games (one at each park), so the three of us are going to the March 7 game with the Dbacks at the Rockies at Hi Corbett and the March 13 game with the Dodgers at the Dbacks at TEP. Dad and I are also going to see the Cubs at the Dbacks game. That game is in the middle of the week and Mik has school, so we did not even give him the option to go if he wanted.

Getting tickets to the spring training games were so easy, as we could go do it in person. The Rockies are at a rather old ballpark and the wheelchair seating is very limited. Tickets have been on sale for almost a month there and we were happy that we were still able to get wheelchair seating for the game we wanted. They do, however, only allow one companion seat (the other ticket is for the section above), but that is a good policy to allow the maximum amount to be available to those that need them. The Dbacks spring training facility has a good amount of wheelchair seating, although it can be tricky to get seats together still.

Mik's Mini Bat Collection: In His Bat Racks

Last year for Christmas our Grandpa Kjos made Mik mini bat racks for his collection. Dad finally got it up in Mik's room and filled it with the mini bats from the trip. It looks really cool, although the photo is just from Dad's phone.

Photo Issue

The place I host most of the photos for this blog had a crash that seems to have affected most of the images on the blog. I do not currently have them on my computer and only on my external harddrive and some also on CDs because they were taking too much space on my laptop. I will try to slowly get the posts to have photos again. There are hundreds of posts and I think all, but some of the pre trip posts were affected, so it may take a while.

Update 3/7/10 - I finally got the photos all back in the posts.

Kj's Baseball Collection: Toros Inaugural Season

Back on Monday when Dad and I went to the Tucson Toros game I got a baseball for my collection. Mik did not go along, but we would have gotten him a mini bat if they were not all pink ones. The ball I got was a Inaugural Season Tucson Toros 2009 baseball.

Final Regular Season 2009 Toros Game

Dad and I finally got out to a Tucson Toros game tonight. They play at Hi Corbet, where Dad and I used to go to games all the time when the Triple A Toros played here. We also saw a lot of Arizona Heat games here the few years that softball team existed.

Mik's Food Scrapbook: Arizona Baseball Club at Chase Field

At the Arizona Baseball Club at Chase Field yesterday Mik enjoyed the Chinese selection of food. He especially liked the dumplings. He also enjoyed the Udon Noodle Salad. I forget what the sandwich thing is he had, but he did not really try it because he got full on the Chinese food first and wanted to make sure he saved room for dessert.

The best part, though, was the special dessert the chef made just for him/us. It was a giant ice cream log. It has three flavors of ice cream and an oreo crust on the bottom. The edge has nuts and M&Ms. It was awesome and we all enjoyed it, especially Mik. It was even more than enough ice cream for Dad, who tried to, but could not finish it off. The only other time that he failed to finish off an ice cream treat was when Mik, Dad, and I had the Sorcerer's Apprentice Sundae at the Disney Soda Fountain in Hollywood several years ago.

Dbacks Gonzo Appreciation Night: Houston Astros 0 @ Arizona Diamondbacks 9

Just the other day Mik got a package with a certificate for the Arizona Baseball Club restaurant at Chase Field. We had been talking about going to another game this season and when I looked at the upcoming promotion schedule I noticed they had somewhat recently added that today's game was Luis Gonzalez Appreciation Night. Luis Gonzalez is like Mik's favorite Dback ever and used to be his all time favorite baseball player, but I think Cy Young and Warren Spahn now top that list. Thus we made a quick decision to go to the game today, especially since there was a Gonzo t-shirt giveaway to the first 25,000 fans.

Mik was kind of tired of baseball after the road trip, but he was up for a Dback game. Of course, the clincher was that they were giving out Gonzo t-shirts. He ended up really enjoying it because of the food at the Arizona Baseball Club, but I will post about that including the awesome dessert in a Mik's Food Scrapbook post soon.

The view of the game was great from the restaurant, although you cannot see the Circle K strikeout board because you are right above it and that certainly is one of the big features of the park. We also could not see the Dback line up scoreboard, but that is a minor inconvenience.

The game itself was pretty exciting at least if you are a Dback fan, since they won 9 to 0 over the Astros. Mik loved it. As for me today I officially became a total non-Dback fan, as I learned that they are moving to the Phoenix area along with the Rockies for Spring Training starting in 2011. That means the total end of baseball in Tucson other than the measly Toros or some random professional baseball organization thingy. Sorry, but I think it is a total waste for them to spring train so close to home and it really destroys them trying to be a team for the whole state. They might as well now become the Phoenix Diamondbacks.

Mik and Mom left after the game and headed to the Hyatt, where Mom got a good deal for the night, since she did not want Dad to have to drive home late. Yeah, the 2 hour drive home is nothing compared to driving all night after the Maddux Number Retired Game in order to get to the Nats game the next day, but Mik would not have wanted to stay after the game for the concert and I kind of did. Dad and I stayed for about half of the post game Montgomery Gentry concert. I like their music for the most part, but I really am not into the loud noise of concerts, so we left before it was over. We then got to the hotel in time to watch the post-concert fireworks from the elevator area on the floor we are staying on (could not watch from our room because it does not face the ballpark).

Overall today was a fun Dbacks game experience. It is what Dad calls a Encore game to end the Summer 2009 with a Dbacks game just as we started the summer with a Dbacks game back in May. It was also nice to have Mom along for once, which as usual almost did not happen due to work, but we very much appreciate her coming along. Note that the above photo with Mik, Mom, and a Mini Bat is the two of them proud they got one for $1 when Mik did not even remember that he already got that bat for $1 back in May, so now he has 2.