Sat, 11/8 - Travel to Phoenix - Mesa Game
Sun, 11/9 - Visit w/Radhi and Jim
Mon, 11/10 - Peoria Game
Tues, 11/11 - Surprise-Phoenix Games
Wed, 11/12 - Mesa - Scottsdale Games
Thurs, 11/13 - Phoenix - Peoria Games
Fri, 11/14 - Phoenix - Scottsdale Games
Sat, 11/15 - Surprise - Mesa Games
Sun, 11/16 - Travel Home / Trip Summary
Tuesday was the start of a five-day, two baseball games a day holiday. It's not Iowa, but it was pretty close to heaven seeing so many games. And, as importantly, meeting up with old friends and making new ones.
Surprise Stadium, also known as Billy Parker Field, hosts the KC Royals and the Texas Rangers for spring training.
It is about a 40-45 minute drive from the Phoenix/Tempe area of AZ.
Its entranceway is beyond centerfield. This is different than the other AFL stadiums I visited where their entranceways were on the infield. Surprise Stadium operations did offer mobile transportation for those individuals who would have difficulty walking around to the seating area.
The Rafters got whooped this game. They started off fine with 4 runs in the 1st. The Scorpions took the lead in the 5th making it 5 - 4. However, in the top of the 6th, the Rafters gave up 7 runs and the Scorpions added two more before the end of the game, making the final score 14 - 4.
Here's the playing field and seating area taken from center field. This field was one of the plusher, greener fields of the AFL stadiums.
One could walk around the entire concourse having the field in view. I've seen that at a lot of the newer minor league stadiums but this was the only AFL stadium that had that feature.
There were flags posted on the green backdrop. We think those flags represent teams who hold (or will hold) their spring training in AZ. That's just a guess. And, in this photo, you can see the Royals and Rangers logos on the outfield wall.
This evening brought me to Phoenix Municipal Stadium to watch the Peoria Saguaros vs the Phoenix Desert Dogs.
Here's the entranceway to Phoenix Municipal Stadium. It is known as Phoenix Muni to the locals. Note the bolder red letters in the stadium name in the photo.
Phoenix Muni was built in 1964 and is home of the spring training facility of the Oakland Athletics.
Not only was I treated to a new baseball stadium (new to me) this evening, I also was treated to a most beautiful sunset.
Shane Lindsey, pitcher for the Desert Dogs went 4 hitless innings with 7 strikeouts. Shane was recently placed on the Rockies 40-man line up. I'll be looking forward to seeing him in Colorado Springs and Coors Field in the future. The Desert Dogs ended up losing this one 6 - 5.
Here's another shot of the sunset. It was just too pretty to get one photo.
