Cactus Leaguers

I don't have quite enough time right now to write a thorough enough post about our great trip to Phoenix with Frank for baseball spring training, but I thought I'd share some highlights and post a couple pictures. There are more of my photos up on my Picassa page.

Some of the highlights included:

Kate's patience being rewarded with this gift from a Scottsdale grounds crewman. This just after Tom had a batting-practice home run ball bounce out of his hands and just before Kate got hit in the shoulder/face/knee by a Rich Aurilia line drive during the game. We must have been ball-magnets!

Great access to the players, especially from our bullpen seats near our favorite team, the A's. Here's Justin Duchscherer returning Kate's ball after signing it (check out the pink marker - cute, huh?). (See the additional photos for what happened to Duchscherer's shoes after the game...) Kate even got to have some "personal time" with Jack Cust, who also signed her ball, along with a good number of other A's, Mariners, Royals, and Brewers.

Fun in the Desert Botanical Garden, which was full of all sorts of neat cacti and blooming spring wildflowers. Neat place, where we learned about the Saguaro cactus and why they have pleats. (Apparently Google also knows this stuff, so that might save you the trouble of going to Phoenix to find out)

Soaking in the afternoon sun watching a ballgame, 4 days in a row! One of the best parts was that everyone at these games was a serious baseball fan, so it was basically just as normal to turn to the guy or gal next to you and say "what do you think about Mike Morse's chances of making the team?" or "I sure hope Gio can cut the walks down and be ready to help out by July" as it would be to say "nice day, huh?" Here's Joey Gathright, of the jumping over a car fame, in mid-bunt vs. the Cubbies at HoHoKam Stadium.

Great meals, thanks to Frank's collection of restaurant recommendations. Here is the man himself, about to dive into one of the many protein-intensive meals of our trip to cowboy country.

All in all we had a wonderful time, and look forward to doing it again sometime!