Spring Training Journal 2010: Day 1

Well when you're a broadcaster, normally 4:30am doesn't factor into your day, but this was the exception. After an easy flight that featured a little work and catching up on some reading for a change, we landed in Phoenix around noon local time. Then a quick check in to the hotel and off to Peoria to catch as much of the Brewers v Padres as possible. First off, huge props to the Pads for their facility. It was first class, a perfect spring training type atmosphere and convenient to restaurants and shops rather than being stuck in the middle of no where. They share this facility with the Mariners, so everything was decorated half and half. Our seats were with the players' families, which was interesting because it was a first time. It was pretty cool to see parents cheering and booing umpires while watching their kids play on a major league field just as if it were a coach pitch game.

Even by catching the earliest flight out of Huntsville today, we made it to our seats in the top of the fourth inning. The Brew Crew was down 3-1 at this point because of a first inning three run homer off Gallardo. That was really his only blemish as the outing seemed to be better than his line score. He went three innings, allowing three earned runs but just two hits and two walks. Around us were the wives, kids and parents of Casey McGehee, Corey Hart and Scott Schoeneweis. The kids were amusing, especially when their dads came to the plate in the middle of the game. I could overhear McGehee's wife talking about how Casey enjoys Milwaukee and likes playing against his former team, the Chicago Cubs (McGehee picked up playing time while Aramis Ramirez was injured in 2008). One of the highlights of the day was Schoeneweis striking out Padre slugger, Adrian Gonzalez and battling back from being down 3-0 on the next batter to pick up another K as well. After picking up one in the sixth, the Brewers managed to steal the lead in the seventh on an Alcides Escobar RBI single. However, it disappeared in the eighth as Milwaukee squandered the lead and gave up the game to San Diego, 5-4. No real highlights from the game except for Schoeneweis and Escobar.

Later, we drove by the University of Phoenix Stadium to check out the Cardinals (Arizona that is) venue, which is getting ready for Wrestlemania XXVI in a few weeks before heading downtown to US Airways Arena and Chase Field (home of the D'Backs). After a long day, we hit a sports bar, watched some college basketball since it is tournament time with the conferences and headed straight back to the room to rest. Tomorrow is a day of leisure as we will head to the Grand Canyon (high of 40 degrees) to check out some scenery in the northern part of the state. This will hopefully be worth the drive since we are skipping Alabama v South Carolina in the first round of the SEC tournament. Friday we will be at the Brewer's complex in Maryvale as they host the Cubs and then again on Saturday against the Rockies. Stay tuned for more updates from Arizona, possible sound bytes and more! And thank you to everyone for having me as part of the Huntsville Stars and Milwaukee Brewers organization.