Curtain Call

Well folks...your 2009 Arizona Winter League has gone dark. The hometown Yuma Scorpions used a patented offensive outpouring to claim the league championship for the second time in the league's three year existence. Congratulations to Mike Marshall and his band of bats!

I'm a little overdue on wrapping up this conclusion. Had to get away for some R&R as previously promised. The roulette wheels in Laughlin didn't treat me to kind, and I didn't stop before I should've, naturally. But, the view, in that valley, on the Colorado, is just priceless.

I had a lot of fun this season. And I learned a whole heck of a lot. I got to see more baseball in a month than I could ever have imagined. The weather was great, my host family was even better, and I got to meet and work with a lot of great people.

I hope all of you enjoyed what little insight this blog passed on. Hopefully I'll see you somewhere in the future at a ballpark.

More of What I Think I Know

Here we go with installation numero dos on what I’ve learned here at the AWL:

(4) If you ask to answer the phones, you’ll be answering them constantly for the rest of the month. The first week that everyone reported to the Ray Kroc Complex, the phone consistently ran off the hook. A testament to the newspaper ad that ran promoting our $20 season pass. I started answering after the first couple days, and I haven’t stopped since. I’ve talked to Japanese agents, newspaper people, what feels like half of Canada, and plenty of people who assumed my authority to be much greater than it really is. Mike Marshall I am not. The best call had to have been late on a Sunday night, as I waited for the result to come in from Blythe, a job-seeker phones in past 7 o’clock. On a Sunday! Hmmm…Must need a job as bad as me! He ain’t gonna get it calling on Sundays.

(5) Being ballpark DJ is a lot of fun. I got a taste of this last summer while working for a summer collegiate team in Ohio, playing the BP music. Out here in Yuma and down in San Luis both, I’ve got to play plenty of tunes for the gathered. Lots of oldies, because, who doesn’t enjoy the music of the 60’s? I remember taping songs off the radio as a kid, and with so many songs in, out, and rocking in 120 seconds give or take, what’s not to like? Chuck Berry visited my high school in Missouri annually to speak to a Humanities class, and having sat in on that twice, I’m a huge fan. Although, if you listen not-so-closely, “Roll Over Beethoven” and “Johnny B. Good” have unapologetically the exact same guitar parts. The true “Oldies” format is disappearing from FM radio, with a good example being right here in Yuma. 1400AM is the only place in town to hear Motown, the British Invasion, and so much other good stuff. However, if you come out to the ballpark, we got your covered!
As for the players, they wish they were getting more hip-hop, or more screeching heavy metal, but they’ve got the stuff between the lines to worry about. The other consistent request I got from the players was, “are you going to play my walk-up music?”. For 195 different players, coordinating all that would’ve required a staff-member all to itself. All I could do was laugh, and tell ‘em “get me your CD”.

(6)Baseball players don’t wear much facial hair. I’ve taken some ribbing from Marcus and others in the front office about my lumberjack beard. I came from Flagstaff, Arizona, up in the mountains at 7,000 feet of elevation. It’s almost a requirement in that mountain-town. But the cat-calls got me thinking, of nearly 200 ballplayers, I don’t really have a rival beard. There are some goat-tee’s, a sideburn or two, but nobody wearing a couple months worth of face-warmer. The only thing I think is that ballplayers, by nature, are very particular and thus crack out their razors often. It can’t be because there are a lot of babyfaces, because the average age in the league is in the mid-20’s.

Firing Down the Home-Stretch

Geez….we’re about done. The final week has begun. Playoff teams already set. All that’s left is to battle out the playoff matchups. It sure doesn’t feel like it’s been a month…it seems like it’s been three. I’ve had my fill of baseball, for better or worse. I won’t need to tune in again until the Cubbies get started in April. I’m going to head to Laughlin and crawl into a hole, waiting for a job for the summer to materialize.

We’ve all had a lot of fun though. Being stationed down in San Luis has been an experience. The concession stand there has the greatest Salsa Verde Tostitos I’ve ever tasted. You can only purchase them in Mexico apparently. I’m brokering the price on a case from the concessionaires. Otherwise, seeing the border fence beyond the outfield fence is a good reminder of where we are. A little diamond in the furthest Southwest corner of Arizona.

We didn’t attract overwhelming crowds while down here, but the field is maintained just as nice as the complex in Yuma, and true to our word, we delivered some exciting professional baseball. As official scorer, I’ve got to stay objective, but as I’ve seen every pitch thrown in San Luis, the Atleticos are my favorite to watch for the balance they have up and down the lineup.

I’ve meant to write a lot more on this blog, as I’ve said numerous times. I began the blog thinking that I might not be taught, or might be splitting the virtual-ink with someone else on the main website. Alas, I’ve been solely in charge of both, and I hope you’ve followed along on the main page. Nothing too heavy, but game reports everyday and that amazing, Pulitizer-worthy press release regarding the new seats at Desert Sun. I want to thank Mr. Sangiolo (that's his picture of his son above) and a couple other parents for sending me pictures to thumbnail on top of the stories.

As I sit right now, the sun is setting out beyond the left-field wall, across both Arizona and the Sonoran state of Mexico. Not too bad of a spot to work at. It’s finally gotten to be in the 80’s temperature wise, which makes our evenings at the ballpark much more enjoyable. No more cold February evening breezes. It amazes me to see Yumans still wearing jeans, explaining…”it ain’t hot yet”.

The View of it All!

Well folks...I'd been holding out on the pictures, but now...to return, we had to do it in style. Check out these pictures my fellow intern Jenny Will took while she flew over Desert Sun and the Ray Kroc Complex itself.

Jenny was riding with the Scorpions Booster Club President Jim McDermott. The two of them were trying to perfect where they need to fly to be able to successfully drop cashola onto the paying patrons on Baseball Bail Out Day (FRI. FEB. 20TH!).

This second picture narrows down the scope a little bit, but you can still see all four fields of the complex, with the office center too! Amazing pictures! Looks pretty green, eh? Not as deserty as you'd imagine? All I know is the city does an amazing job upkeeping these fields, I've written about that a few times.


Jenny had a heck of a time flying around and snapping these photos. As you might know, Jim McDermott is a flying instructor, and Jenny said she got to land the plane as well! A little impromtu, free lesson!

It's Been Too Long

Too long, and not enough photos! Guilty as charged! Without photos to enhance, all of you reading will just have to enjoy the wordsmithing. (sigh)

We're past the halfway point of the season, and are heading into a little break of sorts. Everyone is locked out of the ballpark tommorrow...all office staff, players, coaches, trainers, and/or visitors. The city of Yuma is working on electrical issues at the complex, so I unplugged my desktop and left the office tonight, wondering...what to do on a non-baseball, non-office Monday? (WRITE ON THE BLOG!)

Thus far, I've had myself one heck of a time down here in Yuma. Everyone has been so busy, and everyone has been enjoying the novelty of baseball here in the winter, but soon enough, the season will go dark. Scoring three games a day and working with all the great people I do, I'm sad to think in two weeks, it'll be over.

So, I was thinking I would recount some of the things I've learned thus far.

(1) The Clubhouse guy has a lot of work to do here in the AWL! Marcus Commander is our clubhouse guy, on loan from the Southern League (AA) Hunstville Stars. Marcus has been great fun to visit with late in the evenings at the clubhouse, and he's got a lot of great stories about his years in minor league baseball. His month in Yuma is without a doubt ten-times busier than mine. Having grown accustomed to only doing two teams' laundry on a homestand, Marcus is doing over 200 uniforms a day, accounting for the coaches from all 8 teams. One busy man! Don't ask him if he'll squeeze in your dirty whites, as I did, or you might end up in the washer yourself!

(2) Major Leaguers put their pants on one leg at a time. I'd never personally met major league players until coming down to Yuma. Beginning with Mike Marshall, and then meeting and working with them as they trickled into Yuma, I have been so very impressed with the "aura" around these guys. Templeton, Virgil, Snyder, Lancaster, Evans, Cadaret, the aforementioned Marshall...all amazing. And they're here, displaying their passion for the game that will never cease, teaching these young kids. I speak of the "aura" around these guys, and I think it stems from the fact that I could sit down with each one of these guys and ask a million and one questions about the memories they have from playing at baseball's highest level. What's it like having Dodger Stadium or Wrigley Field as your office? How does your World Series ring fit? Do you remember the kids asking for autographs? ...Unbelievable. To bring it full-circle, my host family for the month were long time San Diego Padres season ticket holders. When I come home from the office, whose autographed, framed picture is on the wall...TEMPE!

(3) Official Scoring is a tough job. I really really enjoy being the de facto "judge, jury, and executioner" while I'm at the ballpark, but the stat hounds are a drawback. I understand where they're barking from. But it's not like I've got any agenda. I've got my father to thank for teaching me how to keep score many a year ago. I've kept score of just as many Cub games on TV as I have kept score in person. I enjoy the responsibility, take it seriously, and just like the end of the AWL, I know I will miss the opportunity to do what I'm doing.

Well...I think this is enough for now. If my camera batteries didn't drain faster than the time it takes to open a soda-pop, I'd have more pictures for you. But...there you have it.

Answering some Questions

My responses to a few questions:

When are we going to get the three missing rosters up and running?
...Hopefully real soon. I should have posted an Excel sheet download by now for you folks to browse through, perhaps I can get that done tommorrow/today. It's out of my hands on why the three teams aren't appearing correctly. Apparently, the links need to be kinked out deep inside the html annals of the webpage, and that's something that my usership has no access too.

When are we going to broadcast in Yuma?
...Again, hopefully real soon. Time Warner did come out late this week and get us hooked up for internet inside the pressbox at Desert Sun. I believe, not promising, but believe...that I'll be delivering the 11am game on the internet on Wednesday. We still need to finalize the deal with the webstream service and need to connect and troubleshoot so we're completely ready, but this is what I've been chomping at the bit to do, and I'll do my best to make it happen. Cole St. Clair would follow me, delivering the afternoon game in Yuma, as I head out in the afternoons for my post as magic-man down in San Luis. Actually, it's really not magic. Just the same Steve Miller Band and oldies tracks I keep recycling.

Rain and Shine!

A wild weekend is over, as it's technically early Monday morning as I scribe this.

An odd Saturday afternoon of constant rain showers forced cancellations in Blythe, San Luis and Yuma. Which meant...double-headers for Sunday. The Blythe area received much more rain than we did down here in "the tri-corner", so the Blythe-San Diego double-header was played in Yuma.

As for the action, in my fatigue, I wasn't able to give the San Luis versus Saskatchewan marathon on Friday night justice. A scheduled 9 inning evening contest went 12 innings, with Stuart Champion living up to his name and delivering two huge extra-inning RBI baseknocks for San Luis. After the Silver Sox had scored three runs in the top half of the 10th, Champion re-tied the score in the bottom half with a 2 out, 2 RBI double to keep the game going. Then in the 12th, Champion knocked a chopper through a drawn-in infield to clinch the 15-14 victory for San Luis. A thrilling ballgame for all of us who stuck it out past 11pm on a breezy, chilly February night.

In Sunday's action, Team Canada got it's first W of the season, taking the first of their double-header with Yuma. San Luis swept a twin-bill from Western Canada, extending their winning streak to three. San Diego and Blythe split a nightcap double-header at Desert Sun, with San Diego putting their hitting boots on to score 14 runs in their first victory of the year in which they weren't no-hit. And, over in Palm Springs (wish I would get there this season, but don't think I will), Palm Springs got right back on the horse, winning 12-3 after dropping their first ballgame of the campaign on Saturday afternoon.

So now, we welcome somewhat of a lull in the schedule. No AWL games either Monday or Tuesday, however, San Luis will play a much anticipated exhibition game Monday night against the Mexican San Luis Algodoneros. I know that everyone can use these next two days for resting up. We're not even halfway through the AWL schedule, and it feels like the grind of the first ten days has been a 100 days.

On a positive note, I used some of our unanticipated down-time on Saturday afternoon to head on our to the casino with our Clubby, Marcus. Didn't really have any money I could afford to play, but I changed some quarters into a crisp Washington, and walked away with a Lincoln and that same Washington. Texas Tea penny machines...a good bet. Only nine lines. Really wanted to play Tailgate Party, but those slots are becoming few and far between. I could tell you where they're at in a few Laughlin properties...but you'll have to trade me some other information for that knowledge. All I know is that I'm changing my availability date on my resume to one full week after we've wrapped up here in Yuma. I'm heading to Laughlin to sit by the river and do some honest relaxing!

All for now. Should have some pictures from tommorrow's exhibition in San Luis. Everyone's expecting a large contingency to show up.