A win! That's good. Same team. Different year. Mark Reynolds, who was supposed to have worked on cutting down his strikeouts was disappointing. Watch closely. The corner positions were supposed to not be a problem this year. Too many solo homers. How much money is TOO MUCH for Hudson?

I know, I know. The season already started half a week ago and half a world away, but for me it started TONIGHT with a terrific game in a terrific brand new ballpark in the capital of the good old US of A. If tonight's game is any indication then it's going to be a fine season.

Time to stop talking (ahem) and PLAY BALL! (CAUTION: Token Partisan Posting Ahead)

I’m watching the NCAA tournament tonight in Phoenix, and my local DirecTV CBS station is not broadcasting in HD. I am getting the UCLA game in standard definition. Fortunately, I have the DTV March Madness package and can get the game in HD there. Go figure. 

What I want to watch is the Arizona/WVa  game. The HD telecast is available on the local CBS HD station IF you have an off-air antenna or cable. But I don’t.  I can get it on the local SDTV CBS station on DTV, but the HD telecast is blacked out on my DTV March Madness package. If I pay $35 a day to watch college basketball, why can’t I watch the games I want?

I can’t wait for MLB Extra Innings to come along this year and finish robbing me blind.

 

Last Sunday, we made our way back up to Surprise for a game between the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago Cubs. As expected, it was very crowded what with it being a Sunday and of course the Cubs draw everywhere they go.

Surprise Stadium, home of the Rangers and Royals, is probably my favorite of all the Cactus League stadiums. If you have infield tickets on the Rangers side (first base) you’ll be in the shade for pretty much the entire game. As far as I know, it’s the only venue to offer free parking for Cactus League games so the $22.00 ticket becomes quite attractive compared to the rest of the venues.

On our first visit February 29, we spent $70.00 before the game even began (2 tickets, 2 beers, 2 hot dogs and a bag of peanuts) so this weekend we decided to check out the Home Run Party Deck. The party deck is located in the outfield. Tickets are $35.00 and include admission to the game, 2 drink vouchers and an all you can eat buffet. SWEET! This definitely sounded like a better deal.

The Party Deck is not the place to go, however, if you want to watch the game. If you get there early and score one of the seats along the front row, the view is very good, but the trade-off is that you will be in direct sunlight all day. From our table, which was in the second row under the tent, there was nothing to watch except the Suns-Spurs game on the big screen TV. The baseball game was such a laffer that everyone was more interested in the basketball game anyway. There was a band playing prior to the game, and they played briefly between innings starting at about the end of the 6^th inning after they had caught up on their sleep from the night before. I was disappointed that the buffet didn’t include hot dogs but instead consisted of some semblance of Mexican fare. I’m not sure if it’s the same every Sunday or what they do on the weekdays when I have seen the Party Deck extremely less crowded.

Now, here was the most pleasant surprise about the Party Deck. Every Sunday, they bring a baseball player up for about an hour to pose for photos and sign autographs. Yesterday, it was former 2^nd baseman Cookie Rojas. Fergie Jenkins  will be the guest on March 16. On March 23 it will be Rollie Fingers. That’s kind of a nice way to meet some former ballplayers, and you don’t have to stay in the tent. You can walk around to other areas of the ballpark. Also, here’s another little secret we discovered: you can upgrade your game ticket to the Party Deck ticket for $10.00. I’m not sure if that includes lawn tickets or not, but if you have $22.00 seats you can get into the party tent for an extra $10.00. If you buy them ahead of time at the box office they are $35.00. 

 Here's the "Surprise": Before the first pitch was thrown we had spent $70.

The stadium couldn't have been more than half full. The hot dogs and peanuts were good. The beer was warm. But the weather was BEAUTIFUL!

(And I'm still trying to figure out WYSIWYG)