Arizona Revisited...

I had a very good reason for missing last week’s column. I was in the Phoenix, Ariz.: part of this world with brother Larry visiting family, Coach McLean and the Seattle Mariners. Before leaving I heard from a fair amount of people that said things like “Lucky you,” or “I don’t want to hear about it,” or “Bring back some warm weather with you!”

Once again we had a great time and kept busy getting a chance to see some other parts of Arizona, and the weather was about 10 degrees cooler this year than last and it was quite comfortable.

Sister-in-law Leslie was a gracious host as usual, and we appreciate her more and more. We had a lot of fun with our nephew Jason, as well. There was at least one funny thing that happened when we were playing pool at a neighborhood watering hole a couple of Saturdays ago.

He said, “Do you see that guy playing pool at the far table in the corner? Doesn’t he look like the ‘Most interesting man in the world guy’?”

I said, “You know he sort of does, but I doubt that the most interesting man in the world would be wearing suspenders!”

Jason’s son Landon is nearly three and I can only say this youngster is busy, and I do mean busy. We did have fun playing catch and when he wanted to, he is pretty good at catching and throwing, especially when he isn’t using the pictures on the wall as targets. He is a cute kid and will be fun to watch as he continues to grow and play ball.

We went to Coach McLean’s home to watch the Gonzaga-Oklahoma State game and boy did the referees do their best to get face time on the TV screen. Neither team was able to get into any kind of flow, but I was happy the Zags got the win that nobody figured they had a chance of getting. And it was great to see Coach again.

On Sunday and Monday, March 23 and 24, we went to the Peoria Sports Complex to see the M’s play Oakland and the Chicago White Sox. We had a good view of Robinson Cano, and I think he will be a big help in the field and at the plate. How many more victories that will bring is hard to say because the rest of the team will need to supply hits and runs. One guy can’t be expected to do it all, and if he is the only one contributing the opposition will pitch around the only bat in the lineup. So that means players will need to get on base in front of Cano and if they walk the second basemen the guys behind him will need to bring him around to score, which of course means they won’t be able to pitch around him.

When we go to a game in spring training, we know the games don’t count, but we’re M’s fans and when you pay to get in you want your team to win. Against the A’s the Mariners trailed late 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth. We put on our rally caps after a couple of guys got on. With two on and no one out, we got a three run walk off home run, off of a soon to be Triple A relief pitcher. But a win is a win.

The ChiSox came to Peoria on Blake Beavan Day. Okay, so Beavan was pitching and the fans got in two for the price of one. What a deal! In the second inning ‘Bad Inning Blake’ gave up five runs and the M’s were forced to battle back the rest of the game. He would give up two more runs before Seattle could do much damage. The M’s scored six on the day getting a three run double from Cano to bring a little excitement to the stadium. It was a 7-6 loss, but it was fun.

We like to talk to the people around us and find out where they are from. It’s funny how many people from the Midwest were there. One gal from Wisconsin talked about how much warmer it was in Arizona than it was in her home near Green Bay.

She said, “Watching baseball is a lot more fun than freezing back home!”

On Monday, a White Sox fan from Indiana talked about the long miserable winter they were having. She said, “It’s nice to be here. It was getting depressing at home.”

At the game on Sunday I had on a Broncos shirt, as in the LRS version. It only said Broncos underneath the Bronco head. I was also wearing a Seattle Mariners hat. I had a fair number of people that wondered if I was confused. I had to explain that it was not a Denver Bronco logo by any stretch of the imagination.

It was a great time once again in Arizona, but it is always good to get home. If nothing else, just catching my breath after trying to keep up with Landon is important!