Spring training dispatch

Hey, we know this has nothing to do with C-U, but it’s spring break, and we figured that a spring break story might be OK to post. Enjoy. — Ed.

I’d never been to Spring Training before this year, although Gillian and I had talked about it for several years. Back in 2000, my brother played a spring small-college tournament in Fort Myers, and we traveled to meet my family there with the intention to watch him play a game or three, but despite Florida’s reputation for great March weather, they were rained out for three or four days running.

Since then, we’ve never been able to put together the scratch to make the trip. But this spring, we finally decided to take the plunge and headed to Fort Myers for some Minnesota Twins action. We saw three games at Hammond Stadium, against the Rays, Red Sox, and Marlins, plus we took an ill-advised trip to Bradenton to watch the Pirates and Astros do battle for “most depressing team in major league baseball.”

Here are some highlights:

Twins 12, Rays 3; Sunday, 3/21

• Gillian started things off right by getting friendly with T.C., who’s the best mascot I’ve seen in action. He was good natured and genuinely funny, and was able to entertain the kids in attendance without traumatizing them with nightmare visions of a seven-foot tall bear.
• We got the $5 program, which was quite informative, as you can see from my happy reaction at right while I’m reading it.
• The Twins started the game with five runs in the first inning off Rays starter Wade Davis, and they never were threatened. Scott Baker threw five shutout innings to get the win. Davis is supposed to be one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, but he didn’t have much going for him on this night. His fastball was straight and didn’t rise much above 90 mph according to the stadium radar gun.
• Orlando Hudson, who the Twins signed to a one-year contract this offseason, really seems like a fun guy to be around. He was constantly joking around with double-play partner J.J. Hardy, the umps, manager Ron Gardenhire, the grounds crew, random passersby, manatees… My only concern is that he’s 31, but he moves like a 50-year-old man. Here’s hoping he’s got at least one good year left in the tank.
• With the obvious exception of Joe Mauer signing a new contract (announced after this game), the second-most-talked-about subject of conversation was outfielder Delmon Young. Young’s been a disappointment in his two years with the Twins, but he looks like a different person this spring. He’s lost at least 15-20 pounds and appears to be much more light on his feet, both in the field and on the basepaths. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how that translates to game performance, but for the first time in a couple of years, I’m optimistic.
• We had an entertaining group of retirees (two men and one woman) sitting behind us in this game. One of the guys (who wasn’t much of a baseball fan) was convinced that the seagulls circling the stadium were eagles, no matter how much his companions tried to convince him otherwise. Another highlight was when they spied the spray from the fountain in the pond beyond the outfield wall above the trees. “What are they washing out there?” “Are they rinsing the batting cages? They’re sure wasting a lot of water!” They also spent some time trying to decode what T.C. Could possibly stand for, and they settled on “Teddy Cuddles” as the most likely possibility.

Astros (several), Pirates (not many); Tuesday, 3/23

• After spending a day at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, we decided to catch an afternoon game at a different complex before heading back to Ft. Myers for the Twins’ evening game. I checked the Orioles’ online schedule (they train in Sarasota), and I was convinced that they were playing the Tigers, so we headed across town to Ed Smith Stadium, which was strangely deserted for an hour before game time. Turns out I was off by a week – they were playing the Tigers on the 30th. It’ll be a while before I live that one down, but after a quick trip back to the hotel to find some wifi, we discovered that the Astros were playing the Pirates in Bradenton, just 15 minutes away. The Pirates’ stadium is located right in the middle of a sketchy neighborhood, which was kind of cool. We paid $5 to park in some guy’s yard and walked a couple of blocks to the stadium. I didn’t expect to have to wait in line for tickets at a Pirates game, but that’s what happened.
• It probably wasn’t worth the wait, in retrospect. I don’t know if it was a split-squad game or what, but the biggest name in the Astros lineup was Pedro Feliz (Hunter Pence, Lance Berkman, and Carlos Lee were nowhere to be seen) and they still rocked Pirates started Ross Ohlendorf for nine runs in three innings. Not only that, but there were fielding and baserunning blunders galore (two runners were picked off in the first two innings); the whole scene had the feel of a Class A game for which this stadium hosts the rest of the season. Good luck, Pirates and Astros fans; you’re going to need it.
• We started out under the grandstand, but with the combination of it being too cold in the shade and having a steel roof support blocking our view of the batter, we moved to general admission down the left field line. Most of the fans out there were followers of other teams who just came out to the part because there was a game. We chatted with a Red Sox fan from Long Island on vacation with his brothers and a Rays fan who had the afternoon off from his job at Honeywell and decided to take in a ballgame. Those conversations were much more interesting than anything going on on the field.
• We did get to pose as some anonymous Pirates southpaw (Zach Duke?), though!

Twins 7, Red Sox 2, Tuesday, 3/23

• This was an evening game against the much larger-market Red Sox, which made for a different experience at the ballpark. There were plenty of Massholes showing off their New England driving skills in the parking lot. The scalpers were more numerous and more aggressive, which would have sucked had we showed up to the game without tickets. The Twins seem to sell out every spring game at their 7,800 seat stadium (they announced that night’s game as the eighth consecutive sellout of the spring), so it was good that we’d purchased tickets before we left home; I’d considered taking my chances once we got to Florida.
• For this game, we had seats in the lawn general admission area in the right field corner. It wasn’t a great vantage point, but for $12 it was pretty decent. There were several families sitting on blankets in our near vicinity, so T.C. Came out to entertain for a full inning.
• One of the kids nearby was a dead ringer for Ralphie in A Christmas Story, and he’s going to have a difficult road in life. He’s one of those nerdy kids who really reminds me of myself at that age, so I don’t want to dislike him, but he was annoying enough that I disliked him anyway. His mother was trying to get him to settle down and ended up wrestling with him on the ground. She got frustrated with him and ended up yanking up on his underwear. I can see that kid telling his therapist in 15 years, “…and I was so geeky that even my mom gave me a wedgie.”
• The game didn’t have much in the way of drama, as Boston starter Clay Buchholz was far from sharp and gave up five runs in two innings of work. I quit counting after his fifth wild pitch. Sox catcher Jason Varitek did a good job of keeping Buchholz’ bounced offerings from getting past him, but the Twins were aggressive on the basepaths and kept advancing when they dribbled away. Buchholz also had several walks, and the Twins capitalized on the multiple opportunities with some timely hits.
• Dustin Pedroia made a nifty play by knocking down a liner to his left in the bottom of the first, but he rushed the throw and one-hopped it into the stands. He left the game at the end of the inning and I read afterward that he’d sprained his wrist; I assume it happened on that sequence.
• The Twins have 6′-11″ pitcher Jon Rauch in camp (and had 7′-1″ Loek Van Mil as well before sending him to minor league camp the previous week) as well as 5′-4″ second baseman Chris Cates. One of them is tall! One of them is small! Funny, right? It’s tough to tell that Rauch is that tall just by looking at him, but it’s pretty clear that Cates is tiny.
• Sidearming Twins reliever Pat Neshek pitched the 7th and gave up a double to David Ortiz. Neshek is trying to return from Tommy John surgery, and he was topping out at about 82 on the radar gun. I don’t remember how hard he threw before the injury, but I’m pretty sure he’s not all the way back yet.

Twins 4, Marlins 1; Wednesday, 3/24

• Our last game of the trip took place on the most beautiful day so far – 80 degrees and sunny, with just enough breeze to stave off heat exhaustion. This was the first game in which the Twins didn’t build a large early lead, and it was nice to have a little drama, even though they never trailed.
• Minnesota didn’t sign 38-year old behemoth Jim Thome for his speed, fortunately. With a runner on first in the second inning, Thome hit a hard grounder to second baseman Dan Uggla. Uggla tossed to shortstop Hanley Ramirez (who had two errors in the first three innings), and Ramirez had to leap over the oncoming baserunner. He appeared to lose his handle on the ball while in midair, and took a moment to land and gather himself before throwing on to first. The glacial Thome was still out by a half-step. Thome’s bat speed looked as good as ever, though, which is what matters for his role on this team.
• Jacque Jones came up with the Twins when they were still terrible in the late ’90s and formed one-third of the Soul Patrol outfield with Torii Hunter and Matt Lawton. He was a solid (if unspectacular) player for Minnesota for several seasons as they became competitive again in the early aughts, before signing a free-agent deal with the Cubs after the 2006 season. He played for the independent Newark Bears last season and signed a minor league deal with the Twins in the offseason. He played right field in this game and started the scoring with a two-run homer in the fourth. The crowd gave him a nice ovation, which was nice to see. I hope he takes an assignment to AAA Rochester and is available in case of an outfield injury; he really wouldn’t be blocking any prospects who are ready to go.
• Kevin Slowey (right) started for the Twins against the Marlins’ Anibal Sanchez. Slowey was his normal efficient self, which was good to see after hearing reports that he lacked confidence in his surgically-repaired wrist earlier in spring training. He went six scoreless innings, giving up three hits and never facing a serious jam.

Random Travel Notes

• I’m a complete and utter cheapskate, but it’s important to note that in the Deep South, it’s worth the extra 15 bucks to stay in $55 motel rooms rather than $40 motel rooms. Trust me on this one.
• Georgia apparently has no zoning laws whatsoever when it comes to billboards along the interstate. There are dozens of them every mile along I-75, and they’re pretty raunchy if you consider the numbers of families who drive that way en route to Disney World. Here’s a sampling:

• There are also a bunch of vasectomy ads, and it’s fun to think about how many men come around to the idea after driving hundreds of miles with their kids along I-75.
• Watching the games was fun, but there’s really no reason to be in Florida this time of year other than spring training. If you’re planning on going, it’s not as crowded as I expected. All the motels seemed to have rooms available, and it was pretty easy to get tickets.