Spring Training in Peoria

but as I recall, early on in spring you’ll likely see a starter for an inning or two, and then a parade of players…

That is all.

It’s fun. We used to get out of school and, if it was early enough, we would head over to one of the ST camps. Seeing as how within just an hour of school there were the Tigers, Phillies, Yankees, Rays (at the time) and Reds we were able to see many of the teams at least once or twice.

As for what you should expect, if there are any of the regulars playing, it’s going to be limited. They really don’t start to get much extended playing time until later on in camp, pitcher especially. But you won’t see just NRI’s at all, you’ll see a lot of guys get time.

My favorite thing was to go over when the park first opened, and just stand around for an hour or two watching things like a bunch of guys doing PFP, or Edgar hitting off a tee, or batting practice

Do you know where you are staying, yet? Close to the park?

I don’t know how long you will be staying but try to get over to the practice fields to watch the guys. Major league on one side of the complex. As you walk down the path, you pass AAA, AA, and end up at the A team. Practice starts I think at 9am? You can go to the Mariners’ office and get a sheet with such info.

After practice go to the stadium were the worst seat in the house is still really good. The ushers are old retired folks. If you are nice and the seat is empty, you can “upgrade” all over the place. If you are sitting in someone’s seat they just ask you to move a few seats over or up or where ever! It really is low key.

For the first week, pitchers go about 2 innings. By the 6th-7th, most of the ML players take off. You might see 2 or 3 starting pitchers by the 4th inning and then bullpen guys, then NRI’s/minor L pitchers.

Besides the game there is actually a lot to do. You might want to try the sports bar there. It is right across the street. I know the players do interviews there a couple times a year. Also there are a bunch of nice restaurants. I have ran into Betancourt, Lowe, Raul, Beltre, and Lopez after the games. I never said anything cool, just a hello or a nod.

It is a lot of fun. … Granted, it is slooow, relaxing, quiet fun, like hanging out in a mildly crowded park for several hours on a sunny day. I had wanted to go for years and finally did about 4 years ago. I knew I would be going back every year I could.

You will not look at SafeCo baseball games the same way again.
Have a great time!

You can go to watch them practice – the big boys work on Field 1 (right behind the big stadium) and fields 2-8 are all the minor league kids. It’s really fun to wander around the complex for a couple hours watching them do drills. I believe practice starts at 9 most days, and it’s free. The opening game likely won’t be sold out, so it’s really easy to move seats if you want – but honestly the place is so small that there’s no bad seat. There’s a bit more shade on the 1B side, but not much.

Most everyone else got it right – the regulars play 3-4 innings max most days, and the pitchers throw two or three innings, then it’s Name That Mariner for the rest of the game. But even that’s a lot of fun.

There is very little shade at the ballpark, even on the aforementioned 1B side, so hats and sunscreen are pretty much mandatory. There’s a pretty good sports bar right across the street from the complex (McDuffy’s) but overall there’s not much else in Peoria – I don’t know how long you’re staying, but Scottsdale is where a lot of the good restaurants/bars are (and the Giants train there).

You will definitely have fun.

I’d like to make stops in Tahoe, maybe Yosemite? Vegas and Hoover Dam. Screw California, i’ll go through nevada.

I was a few clicks away from buying spring training tickets for the first time in my life and driving out there, but I think a family illness is going to keep me away.

I’m jealous. I want to watch Gutierrez shag fly balls. Maybe later in March.

Our first day is going to hopefully get us into southern Oregon. We say we’re doing the coast because I hear really bad things about taking I-5 directly down through oregon and california to cut over to San Francisco. Apparently near the mountains there it is really bad this time of year (near Grants Pass?)

I’ve never gone US-101 and they say it’s a really good sightseeing tour. It adds like 4 hours to the drive though. I’ll gladly take the extra time though to avoid being snowed in in the mountains.

We did end up doing 101..thanks for the advice.

However….yeah. We won’t be going to Peoria. We just got a call and it sounds like we’re going to be adoptive parents sooner than previously thought. So we’re going to be on the first Alaska flight tomorrow morning to Seattle. Good news, of course, but no spring training for me this year :(

My loss is, of course, your potential gain! I have tickets to this Friday’s game in Peoria against the Dodgers.

207 HH Seat 9
207 HH Seat 10

First one who replies, will have them. No charge to celebrate my entering fatherhood :)