Spring training, day fifteen

Day 15, Spring Training. McKechnie Field, Bradenton. Game 3 of 4 to see the Pittsburgh Pirates. While last Friday was my “premium” game seeing the Yankees, this is my “crappy” game seeing the Blue Jays. I guess the Jays don’t have much of a fan base in Bradenton.

The Pirates require you to buy the same seat for a specific game for each premium game, so I was back in the same seat I had for the Yankees game. No buying a good seat for the Yankees game and buying a throw away cheap seat for the crappy game. By contrast, the Reds let you buy any ticket to any other game for each premium game. Despite the tie-in sale requirement for this game, there were a fair number of empty seats. A couple of scalpers were outside trying to sell tickets, but I’ll bet they were lucky if they got face value.

So I started out in the same top row obstructed view seat. In the first inning, a foul ball was hit over the stands and bashed onto one of the used car junkers across the street. Nobody was around to shag foul balls, so I took note of about where the ball landed and went across the street after the game and found the ball under a car. They use cheap balls for these spring training games. There is a faint “Skyline” insignia on it but no other markings. No Major League Baseball emblem or the commissioner’s signature or whatever else they put on regulation baseballs.

Like most stadiums, the Pirates have a large board in the concourse where the starting lineups are posted. There are always a handful of fans that are keeping score (like me) who are standing in front of the board copying down the lineups. Invariably, some idiot will walk in front of us, notice the board and stop to contemplate it, blocking our view of the lineup board. I’ve tried saying “Excuse me” and “Hello” but these people are oblivious to everything. They’re the ones who drive slowly in the left lane. Today, the guy beside me who was trying copying the lineups yelled to one of them: “If you’re going to stand in front of us, you might try jumping up and down. That makes it worse.” That got his attention. I’m going to have to remember that line.

The Jays started only one regular (Alex Rios). No Vernon Wells, Troy Glaus or Lyle Overbay. Like the Yankees and Giambi, the Blue Jays don’t play Frank Thomas in NL road cities where there is no DH, so no “Big Skirt” either. I guess the manager is still trying to figure out who gets the last spot on the bench. After an inning, I moved down a dozen rows or so to a better seat. I was now sitting beside a Jays’ fan who cheered for everything they did. He seemed to know all of the players’ names – even the minor leaguers’. In the 4^th inning, Jays’ left fielder David Smith dropped a routine fly ball. I remarked to the Jays’ fan that the left fielder won’t make the roster. He told me that Smith’s mother and father were sitting next to him. A Southwest Airlines “Want to get away?” moment.

Jays and Bucs play to a 2-2 tie in 10 innings. Pirates’ reserve catcher Ryan Doumit managed to sneak a home run just over the wall and just inside the left field foul pole in the bottom of the 9^th inning to tie the game. I’ve seen a number of 10 inning ties in the spring training box scores. Apparently, that’s the agreement between the clubs – they’ll only play 10 innings.

Tomorrow, I make my last long road trip and go up to Kissimmee to see the Astros.

Dad