Spring Training Part 2

Welcome back my fellow Yankee fans. Well if you read last week you know me and my wife (AKA Disco) collaborated with some insight on spring training. Well this week as promised we plan to give you our very own and quite unique perspective of our Spring training Experience.

Yankee Joe: So because my two oldest kids are playing Little league baseball we could not make our trip up to Legends Field until Sunday the 24th. Not that this matters much and in the end it worked out nice as Saturday turned out to be on the Rainy side. So Early Sunday morning we loaded the kids our selves and provisions (Sandwiches, Drinks, Digital Camera, balls and Pens) into the Family truckster and motored our way up to Legends Field. We arrived around 11am and were able to find some seats on the third base side of the field. At the time these were great seats, because the sun was still behind the clouds and when the players came out we would be less then 3 feet from the players. About 11:45 after the grounds crew finished touching up the field the Yankees came out to the field. They all gathered in right field and begin stretching and calisthenics. As I mentioned in my previous Blog Legends Field is comprised of three fields. The Yankees were practicing on two of the fields. On the Main field A-Rod, Melky, Posada, and Giambi worked out on. On field two Jeter, Abreu, Cano, and Matsui worked out on. The rest of the team and spring training invites moved between both fields threw out the work outs. We spent most of our time on the Main field but did manage to catch some action on the Secondary field as well.

Disco: YES, we loaded up our children, two boys (9 & 6) and one girl (almost 7mos.) and fought the 45 minute traffic to the beautiful Legend Fields. Now if you have kids, you would know that traveling with kids can be frustrating but we are very lucky to have 3 wonderful kids that played with their toys during the trip. Once we get to Legend fields the best place to park is in the Buccaneer parking lot acrosse the street from Legends Field but we have to walk up a very long steep ramp/ bridge crossing the street below. It is difficult to get a close seat with a stroller so we decided to carry our 7mos daughter now weighing 16lb., 7 oz. Can you say ouch? Our backs hurt from trading off carrying our child. Yankee Joe likes to sit by third base but I prefer to sit near the first base line because it’s near the Yankee dugout and normally where they sign autographs.
Yankee Joe: After calisthenics they brought out the batting cages and the team started batting practice. On the main field Moose, Edwar Ramerez, and Russ Olendorf were throwing batting practice. Edwar looked extremely impressive, and seemed to have a pretty good handle on his fastball. Last year if you all remember Edwar struggled because he could not complement his killer Change-up with his fastball. If what I saw Sunday is any indication he may very well have a fantastic season because his fastball looked amazing with some seriously scary movement on it. I swear Mo may very well may have been teaching him the cut fastball if I did not know better. We also got our first look at Jonathan Albaladejoe who we got when we traded Tyler Clipperd to the Nationals. I’ll be honest I was not impressed with this kid at all. For starters he seemed to be a bit out of shape to me, and if batting practice was any indication he is going to give up A LOT of hits. Then again this is just spring training but considering Clippered possible up side I’m expecting A LOT from this kid, so I hope my first impression of him is wrong.

Disco: Remember Yankee Fans, I don’t know anything about baseball but Man did Edwar look good out there. He had great form and control but seemed to just lack the experience. To quote Yankee Joe “He is all done cooking, he just lacks the seasoning.” Ross Ohlendorf was not even close to being as impressive as Edwar but seemed to get the job done. So I’m told by Yankee Joe, Jonathan Albaladejo is a pitcher the Yankees recently received in a trade. Well the Yankees need to send him back because he is out of shape and could barely throw a pitch. It is just Spring training, he could shape up. Darrell Ranser appears to have the experience, control and great form. I personally think this guy could be a great relief pitcher but according to Yankee Joe he normally starts. Yeah you never know they could always change it.

Yankee Joe: Ok so about 1pm the sun finally came out. On the upside we did not have to worry about rain washing out the workout. On the down side this IS FLORIDA so being in the sun is not always a good thing. Needless to say we moved from the third base side of the field to the first base side. There was more shade over there and we could still get close enough to the field. Not long after we got there my wife points out to me that A-Rod’s wife and daughter are sitting behind home plate. About a minute later Alex comes walking out of the dugout, and heads straight over to his wife and daughter. They exchange Pleasantries for a few minutes, and then A-Rod goes back to work. Not long after this Alex’s wife and daughter left their seats and never returned. A few fans that saw this commented that it must be a publicity stunt because he has done it before. My thoughts were that this is Alex’s wife’s way of telling him she made it to the field. You have to figure Alex leaves for work A LOT earlier then his wife and kid would like to be out of their rented Condo. So it’s more likely Cytha (Alex’s wife) takes her time getting to the field. When she gets there they head to the seats behind home plate to let Alex know they are there. Once he sees them he comes over says hi to his daughter and wife spends a min or two with them then goes back to work. His wife and child at that point head to the air conditioned Suites (Yes even Legends Field has those) so they can be comfortable, and wait for Alex to finish workouts.

Disco: Alex looked great out there. It was so sweet to see Alex lean over and kiss his daughter. We got some very good pictures of Alex with his daughter and wife. During practice Alex was fielding first base, I wonder if they are considering changing his position. Hmm, think of the possibilities. Ladies, DEREK Jeter, WOW! Dam he looks good!!! He has toned up and fielding like the MVP that we know he is. All I can say is WOW!! DEREK JETER has left me speechless.

Yankee Joe: So we spent the rest of our time on the first base side of the field. The sun was just too damn hot and normally at the end of practice, fans can lineup next to the dugouts and normally get an autograph from a player. At some point I decided to go grab some drinks for the kids and my wife, thankfully the concession stand was open unfortunately at this time A-Rod decided to go visit the fans on the first base side and sign some autographs. When I returned with drinks in hand fans were racing to the first base side of the field to get an autograph. So I quickly put the drinks down where we were standing and grabbed both kids and the balls we had brought (and a pen) and headed into the frey. Now you have to understand I have only dealt with autographs in two situations 1) at the end of practices, and 2) on the second and third practices fields. In both situations security had things well in hand having the fans lineup to get autographs. This was not he case with A-Rod on the main field. People were leaping over seats climbing over other fans and generally shoving their way to the front to get an autograph. Security I believe was caught off guard because they could do nothing to retain order during any of this. Remember I was with my kids and because we were already on the first base side we were able to get close to field level right away this however turned out to be a bad thing. As fans started piling onto this small area that A-Rod was walking down signing autographs I found my self trying less to get up to the gate where Alex was walking by and mostly trying to keep both my kids safe as other fans shoved their way past, threw and yes OVER us. At one point a barely grabbed my son out of the way before some idiot bulldozed over him. When I made a comment to the guy he gave me a eat shit and like it look and proceed to shove the next person out of his way. I had not noticed it but we had worked our way to the edge of the dugout and in doing so also moved practically in front of the field. WE were inches from Alex and an Autograph but at the same time the crowd was getting dangerous. I grabbed my youngest son and picked him up because I was scared he would get trampled, my oldest son I stood behind and managed to keep a few fans at bay as he waited for another fan to step out of the way. This VERY kind gentlemen and his wife explained they already had an autograph from Alex and were just trying to get a picture. Once he got that picture he planned to move and allow my son to take his place. His wife helped me by positioning her self next too me allowing us to make a small pocket for my oldest son to stand in and not get trampled. If it was not for these to very kind people this situation could have become VERY dangerous for my kids I can’t express how grateful I was for their help. Once Alex walked by us Fans started yelling for him to sign what they had. Another women who ended up standing next to me, also saw my predicament. She was at the time trying to get Alex to sign her jersey. He had already done so and when she realized she would not be able to leave where she was she offered to take my son’s balls and ask Alex to sign them. Unfortunately for my oldest son he was bumped by the crowd and he dropped his ball momentarily. I had already handed my youngest son’s ball to the women, and Alex was busy signing it while I yanked my oldest son up off the floor (Ball in hand) before he ended up getting trampled. At this time Another fans directly behind me came flying forward, he managed to catch his balance as I stepped in front of him to keep him from landing on my son. I at the time gave him a piece of my mind. Truth is the poor guy had been shoved, and had no control of what had happened. I Honestly wish I could apologize to him because he truly felt bad, so if you happen to be that guy and are reading this I was that guy that gave you hell for nearly landing on his kid. I know you did not do it intentually and thank you for putting up with me at that time. Also I want to thank the women that got the ball signed for my youngest son. He is THRILLED to have an autographed ball from Alex you really helped make his day. Lastly THANKYOU to the couple that helped me keep my kids safe. With out you I’m scared to think what could have happened. Ladies and gents the moral to this story is if you have kids save the autograph hunting for the end of practice or the secondary field. During practice if a player is signing have your kids stay behind and take your chances by your self. Most of the fans trying to get autographs are complete idiots, but there are a few as I have pointed out that are good people. My point is be careful and leave the kids in their seats they will be safer at least during workouts on the main field. On the secondary field things aren’t as bad but they can get rough at times as well.

Disco: People are just crazy about A-ROD, unfortunately they almost squashed my children. Crazy is not always good. Thanks to those that helped protect my children!!

Yankee Joe: So my oldest son was very disappointed about missing his chance to get A-Rod’s autograph. Unfortunately nobody on the main field was going to stay after and sign so as we were getting ready to leave my oldest son was feeling pretty upset. As we were getting ready to head to the parking lot another fan came by and said Giambi was signing autographs on the secondary field. So with a look to my wife who basically said “Go!!” I handed my daughter off to her and grabbed my oldest son and we headed to the secondary field. Giambi was there sure enough along with Jason Lane and they were both signing autographs. We managed to get both of them to sign his ball and basically made my sons day. Now I’ll admit I’m pretty hard on Jason through out the year considering his injuries batting average and the whole Roids thing. Something I will give him credit for thou is that he has always been all about the fans. This man signed Autographs for a good 45 minutes and would not leave until he had signed one for every last person. He also took a minute to ask my son if he played baseball and basically have a quick conversation with him. Not a phoney one a REALL conversation. I may not be a big Giambi fan but I will say this he is a good person when it is all said and done regardless of what mistakes he has made. This does not mean I plan on going easy on him mind you but I will say that I have a bit more respect for the guy after seeing him deal with the fans.

Disco: I personally did not care for Giambi due to the Roids thing but after seeing him with my son, I believe him to be a good person. Giambi gave out autographs before and after practice. When I saw him practicing on the small field I caught a small bit of his conversation with the hitting coach and my impression is that he is a good guy. I hope he does well this season.

Yankee Jo: Ok well that pretty much wraps up Spring Training for us. After getting Giambi’s and Lane’s autographs we hit the gift shop bought some pennants for the kids, and headed home. While in the gift shop I was hoping to grab a Joba Rules T-shirt. Unfortunately it was priced out at nearly 30 dollars. Hey I love my Yankees but 30 bucks for a T-shirt is a bit to pricy for me.

Disco: We are going, going, gone! We are out of the park! Let’s Go HOME!

Till next Week

The Yankee Fan (And Disco)