MY FIRST TIME AT SPRING TRAINING
Micheladas & Prospects.
That sums up Spring Training for me. Sunday’s game against the Texas Rangers felt like one of the smallest steps in the journey of the Dodgers’ 2020 season. For Dodgers fans, the hope is to win the final game of the season and win that elusive World Series. Camelback Ranch shares this desire. Or at least it did on Sunday. I thought Dodger Stadium could only bring the “I bleed Dodger blue” vibe. I was wrong.
That quote belongs to Tommy Lasorda, longtime Dodgers manager and forever a Dodgers legend. The last time we won the World Series, Lasorda was at the helm. I am truly blessed to be able to have seen Lasorda at the game on Sunday. Albeit brief, it was inspiring. He left on a golf cart in between one of the middle innings, needing help walking, and received a great ovation. Lasorda has had health problems these past couple of years and is 92 years old. Unfortunately, he won’t be with us for much longer. However, I’m praying to the baseball gods that we will hoist the World Series trophy one more time for him before he leaves us.
The evidence of this “Dodger blue blood” was found while I was walking into the stadium late, but right on time to see Kiké Hernandez hit a homerun! The place was electric and got everyone cheering and/or dancing. Kiké’s having himself a nice spring, going 5-19 with 3 bombs. That’s giving him an OPS of 1.089. He also made a nice grab at a second base to steal a hit on defense. I look forward to seeing Kiké make more spectacular plays on defense this year. Hopefully he can stay consistent at the plate.
This was my first spring training game so it was the first time I’ve seen constant changes in the lineup and so many young pitchers come in right after another. We were bombed. Joey Gallo hit a towering shot to right field off of Tyler Gilbert, newly acquired from the Phillies. It was a matter of time before Gallo, a known power threat, got a pitch he can do damage with. It was clear to me that spring training is where you find the prospects that are ready for the majors. If a hitter can consistently put together good at bats against a veteran pitcher then he’s ready. If a pitcher can consistently get veteran hitters out then he’s ready. Spring training is the test for Major League hopefuls.
The games count, but not the way a regular season game would. There was way less stress on me throughout the game. We had fantastic seats under the sun & behind the Dodgers’ dugout. Needless to say, I was on a cloud. I was able to meet Dodger Yard’s own Randi Radcliffe and was personally able to thank her for this opportunity to express myself in blog form. Not too far from her section was the stand for micheladas. I had to get myself a few and they were delicious. The perfect compliment to a great Arizona weather. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to another spring training game this year but I’ll be back, Camelback.
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