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 6th
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 2nd
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.
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I'd rather have our offense. Rather have our defense. Rather have our starting pitching, our bullpen and, yes, even rather have our shortstop. I'd rather have our record, our manager, our ballpark and our weather; and I'd rather have fans who may get a little intense at times but at least know that if you're going to boo then you boo the players who have hurt your chances with their bat instead of those who have hurt your feelings with their words.
Yeah. I'd rather have our history than theirs; but more importantly, I'd rather have our present.]]>
