Spring Training

Last week, my wife and I took a long road trip—a very long road trip—down to Phoenix to take in some spring training baseball. It was the first time either of us had done anything like that.

Our first port of call was Surprise Stadium, where the Milwaukee Brewers played the Kansas City Royals. Since our original plan was to take it easy our first day in Phoenix by poking casually around town, we didn’t initially plan on going to this game. But we eventually realized that anything else we might have done that day probably wouldn’t have been as fun as going to a game. We got last-minute seats in the upper deck of what turned out to be a very pleasant stadium.

I say this as a lifelong Brewers fan: our most disappointing experience by far was at the Brewers’ home field. American Family Fields of Phoenix—and I have to say that a little piece of my soul dies every time I have to refer to that corporate behemoth in reference to where the Brewers play whether it be in Phoenix or Milwaukee—was okay as far as stadiums go. It also was good to see the famous racing sausages, and I’m happy that the Brewers were victorious over the Seattle Mariners that day.

Our less than positive experience was actually due more to the fan base we were surrounded by that day than anything else. A disproportionate number of folks just looked mean and unhappy. Some of the conversations we overheard were also a reminder of why I’m thankful I don’t live in the upper Midwest anymore. There are always exceptions to a rule. But overall, the vibe was definitely one emanating from the type of personalities I learned to dislike when I was in high school.

On day three, we saw the Cleveland Guardians play the Los Angeles Dodgers. Our experience at Camelback Ranch was the diametric opposite to the one we had the day before. Say what you will about the Dodgers, but they put on a good show. The fans are also some of the most engaged we’ve ever seen in terms of actually watching a baseball game. Dodger fans know how to chill out and have a good time.

I mentioned earlier that we drove down to Phoenix. Rather than shoulder exorbitant airfare and car rental costs, we determined that it was actually cheaper for us to drive down even though doing so meant we had to break the trip up across several days and pay for overnight hotel stays. Besides, I had never driven the stretch of Interstate 10 between Los Angeles and Phoenix, and I was keen to experience what it was like to drive across the desert.

Although it was rather desolate, I have to say that it wasn’t as empty as I expected.

We also killed it with the license plate game. We ended up seeing plates from 41 US states plus Washington, DC (the nine we didn’t see were Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and West Virginia), four Canadian provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Manitoba), and one Mexican state (Sonora).

But after spending days in the car, we were both glad to get home.