After writing this one the weekend, my computer froze so I’m writing this again - hopefully with a better result.

Anyone who has ever been to Spring Training and complained about anything they experienced, should really think twice.  The 9 days I was down there I had one complaint, and it was that it rained for an hour on one of the days.  That’s how nice it is.  The weather is around 90 degrees and sunny (the coldest day was 75), and there are at least 15 baseball games (professional and minor leagues) each day in the Phoenix area.

We decided to do half minor leagues and half majors leagues, which ended up working out for the better.  The last post I wrote was after the A’s vs Rangers game on Sunday, so I’ll try and do short recaps of all the other days.

Tuesday the 18th:

Monday we decided to head up to Sedona, Arizona because the weather in Phoenix was supposed to be the worst of the week.  Well, it was, but it ended up snowing in Sedona.  Just when we thought we’d get out of the bad weather, coming from Vancouver.

Anyways, James Heuser said he was pitching Tuesday, which meant we ventured to Papago Park to watch his Stockton Ports take on the Anaheim Angels High-A club.

Heuser was exceptional on the mound, pitching a perfect three innings.  No hits, no walks, many strikeouts.

The rest of the game went all in favour of the Ports, who wound up winning 6-1.  Christian ‘Thumbbreaker’ Vitters hit a two-run home-run late in the game, and the rest of the Ports offence was on fire.  To open the game, the Ports had (from left-to-right) Matt Sulentic, Jermaine Mitchell and what looked like Todd Johnson.  In the infield (3B to 1B) it was Vitters, Josh Horton, Larry Cobb and newly acquired Chris Carter.  Behind the plate it was the combo of Matt and Jake Smith.

‘07 Third Baseman Justin Frash came in late in the game, and did a fairly good job.  As I mentioned, 6-1 was the final.  Stockton looked fairly good, but the one guy I was very impressed with was Chris ‘Coach’ Carter.  He hits the ball with power and a lot of consistency, despite not being a very good fielder.  He could end up in Midland by mid-season.

Josh Horton, who had a very short stay in Vancouver, hit the ball well and made a couple great defensive snags.  Jermaine Mitchell looks like he could surprise more than a few people, which is why many think he could be Oakland’s next big southpaw outfielder come 2010.

Wednesday the 19th:

A trip to Mesa, to watch the A’s final game of the 2008 Spring, between the hometown Cubs and Oakland, who put out a Single-A team come the 6th inning. 

Ex-Canadian ‘Big’ Joe Blanton was on the hill facing BC’s own Ryan Dempster, who was looking to solidify his spot in the Cubs rotation.

It was essentially Chicago’s opening day lineup, despite the fact for both teams it was a split-squad effort.  Alfonso Soriano, Felix Pie and Kosuke Fukudome lined the outfield, while Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Theriot, Mark DeRosa and Derek Lee patrolled the infield.  Henry Blanco caught. 

Contrarily for Oakland, their only OD starters were Ryan Sweneey, Jack Hannahan, Daric Barton, Jack Cust, Kurt Suzuki and Travis Buck.  That is a pretty good lineup, except that all of their reserve were all Single-A players. 

We didn’t think there’d be Corey Brown starting in Left Field, or Sean Doolittle as a pinch-hitter, but the best part was seeing 2006 RP Derrick Gordon warming up.  We called over to him during the warmup, and I have to say I’ve never seen a baseball player - or an athlete - ever smile as much as he did.  He’s expected to start the year in Stockton, and there he was talking with Blanton, Buck, Barton before the game.  He never got to play, but after he had been a batboy at Papago the day before, it must’ve been pretty special.

Gregorio Petit, our ‘04 SS, got the nod in the starting lineup, and did exceptional.

The game was scoreless after six innings, despite a huge double by Petit early in the game, when he hit the ball off of the top of the left field fence.  Kurt Suzuki was tagged out at home plate by Kosuke Fukudome, who had many great throws from RF.

Chicago managed two runs off of Andrew Brown in the 7th, with one of them coming off of Derek Lee’s first home-run of the spring.  Aramis Ramirez also scored.  2-0 Cubs after seven.

By this time, Brooks Conrad, Gregorio Petit and Corey Brown were the only A’s starters still in the game, with Danny Putnam, Justin Knoedler, Sean Doolittle, Cliff Pennington, Eddie Cornejo and Archie Gilbert now into the game.

Oakland loaded the bases in the 7th, but Brooks Conrad struck out with one gone already, and that ended Oakland’s chances to score a run.  That’s why in the 8th they had some revenge to get.  After Oakland had loaded the bases - all on walks - Eddie Cornejo took four balls, and walked in a run.  2-1 was the score, and Carlos Marmol - who is a top reliever with the Cubs - walked Archie Gilbert to tie the game.  07 C’s superstar Corey Brown hit a single past Second Base, 3-2 A’s and they’d never look back.

5-2 was the final.

Man, Kosuke Fukudome who is a Japanese import, may be the top rookie OF in the Majors.  His arm is exceptional, and wearing #1, he does not at any cost want to fail.  Good on him, too.

Corey Brown was 1-3 with a walk and RBI, and looked sharp at every at-bat.  That can’t be said for Travis Buck, who was 0-3 with a strikeout before being pulled in favour of Danny Putnam. 

Joe Blanton was great on the mound, pitching six innings giving up four hits and striking out five in his final tune-up before the MLB Season Opener in Japan.  Gibsons, BC boy Ryan Dempster gave up just one hit in 5.1, walking two and striking out seven.  The Cubs ended up walking a combined 9 batters, between six pitchers.

Thursday the 20th:

We decided to spend the day not at a ballgame, instead going to a night game in Peoria between the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners.  It was a good game, which featured MLB Save Leader Trevor Hoffman and Seattle’s Miguel Batista on the hill. 

There were very good players in both lineups, with Ichiro, Raul Ibanez, Jose Lopez, Adrian Beltre, Jose Vidro, Brad Wilkerson, Jamie Burke and Yuniesky Betancourt rounding out the lineup.  The pitchers had to bat in this one (San Diego was home), which was a first for me.  Man, it sucks to watch.

San Diego had Brian Giles, Tad Iguchi, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Adrian Gonzalez, Khalil Greene, Jody Gerut, Jerry Hairston, Josh Bard and Justin Germano all in the lineup.

The game ended in a 6-6 tie after 10 innings, and was extended after Chase Headley hit a two-run bomb off of Eric O’Flaherty.  Josh Bard was 2-3 on the night, driving in a run, even though he had many base-running mistakes, which resulted in a bunch of boos from the fans.  Raul Ibanez was 3-3, with a walk and a run, while Ichiro was 3-4 with three runs scored, and two doubles. 

It was a back-and-forth game, but was very boring not having a team to cheer for.  Having a hometown team, or a favourite team, really makes a game more interesting. 

Friday the 21st:

Never having seen a AAA/AA game since the old C’s left town, we decided to go back to Papago to watch Sacramento take on the Chicago Cubs.  The best part?  Cubs Opening Day Starter Carlos Zambrano was pitching for the AAA squad.  Seeing him pitch against Jeff Baisley and Nick Blasi was pretty awesome.

The score was 0-0 after six innings, when we decided to leave, after Zambrano gave up only two hits and three walks.  We didn’t have a roster sheet, so it was hard to pay attention not knowing who anyone was, but we did notice Jeff Baisley and Nick Blasi which made things sort of interesting.  The A’s NEED to put names on the back of their jerseys, just like the Cubs and Brewers do.

Saturday the 22nd:

Our last day in Phoenix, we and Dancing Hans’ crew went back to Papago to watch Stockton take on the Angels High-A team once again. 

Jared Lansford had a hard couple of innings as starting pitcher, but James Heuser rebounded, giving up just one hit pitching between the fourth and six innings.  Combining his two stints of action between Monday and Saturday, he gave up one hit in six innings.  That’s pretty good, and Doogie looks better than ever on the mound.

Craig Italiano, Branden Dewing and Derrick Gordon all pitched in relief.  The lineups in the field were the same as they were Tuesday, except that ‘Coach’ Carter was DHing, and ex-C Sean Doolittle was at first base.

Christian Vitters hit another home-run, to go along with the one we saw him smoke on Tuesday.  However, with Lansford putting the Ports in an early hole, Stockton trailed for most of the game.  With two outs in the bottom of the 9th, Sean Doolittle crushed the ball, hitting the only walk-off homer of our week.  Stockton won!

It was a great trip, which ended with a great hit.  Seriously, if you’re a minor league baseball fan, how could you not go to Spring Training.  Don’t buy the good seats at Major League games, instead buy the cheap 5 dollar outfield seats because there really is no better atmosphere.  It’s just like being at the Nat.  This trip is well worth it, especially considering at Papago, games are free, and you can visit the training sessions in the morning if you’re looking to watch a specific player (ala Henry Rodriguez and Landon Powell).