Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Day two of the trip started with an early morning tee time for Mike and Mark. We went to the Aguila Golf Course, which was in Laveen, just south and west of Phoenix. The round wasn't terrific as far as golf goes, but the weather and scenery was great. No snakes were seen on the course. Mike didn't have a sand wedge, so he kept asking to use Mark's "S Club". Mark thought the S stood for snake. To adjust for bad golfing, there were some rules established:
Mike hits his tee shot.
The definition of "baseball swing".
A followthrough straight from the Tiger Woods school of golf.
Mark's tee shot heading towards...well, likely a pricker bush.
Mark and Mike face the daunting task of a threatening sand bunker.
Mike tries to rescue his ball from the bushes.
Mark retrieves Mike's ball from the water hazard, and nearly falls in.
After golf, we headed to the airport to pick up Brian. We went straight from there to Tempe Diablo Stadium, spring training home for the Anaheim Angels. We hung around in the parking lot during batting practice at one of the practice fields. Mark made fun of a kid for being a ball hog. A homerun ball then hit off of Mark's glove and bounced across the parking lot. Mike had no luck chasing down balls either.
Tempe Diablo Stadium
Once inside the park, we found our seats, which were just to the right of the Angels dugout. The stadium was nice. There was a mountain beyond the left field fence, which provided some unique scenery. Mike managed to get autographs of Bret Boone and Ichiro. Mark did not pursue an autograph of Troy Glaus because Glaus screwed up Mark's fantasy team last season by being injured too much.
The game was decent, as many of the teams' good players started. Seattle won the game 7-1. There was an error by the Angels' first baseman, Darrin Erstad. We noted that Erstad was spelled with an E. Erstad also tossed two balls in the stands which Mark caught. After the second one, Mark was then declared a ball hog. Fans booed, since Mark had two balls and was wearing a Cubs hat.
During this first game, Brian noted that the vendors claiming they had "Ice Cold Water" were falsely advertising. If in fact the water were "ice cold", it would then be ice. However, other liquids may be advertised in this manner. Salt water, for example, could be ice cold and still be water. This concept was pondered way too long.
Pregame warmups.
A mountain beyond the left field fence.
Ichiro
More Ichiro.
John Olerud warming up.
Vladamir Guerrero during the national anthem.
Closeup shot of Guerrero.
Bret Boone attempting to hit a baseball.
Edgar Martinez at bat.
After the game, we went back to the hotel and took a dip in the pool and hot tub. We then cleaned up and started walking towards Mill Avenue in Tempe. Eventually, we decided on dinner at the Gordon Biersch Brewery, which had some decent beers. The food was only ok. Our waitress was Danielle, who attempted to give us ideas on where to go afterwards.
Brian talks on the phone while Mark stares into space.
We then went to the Library, a bar with books and comfortable couches. Brian's friend Aaron and his wife Amy joined us there. It was pretty quiet in there, so we then headed to the Big Bang, a piano bar downstairs.
The piano bar was pretty good, with two guys on dueling pianos. We encountered two girls from Colombia. They were very difficult to understand. They would make song requests and Mark delivered them to the pianists. As the songs and drinks flowed, Mark said to Brian "Those Romanian girls gave me a fake phone number- 867-5309." The piano bar (and all bars) closed at 1:00, and Aaron and Amy drove us back to the hotel.