Despite living in Southern California (as the blog name implies) and being just a six hour trek away from Phoenix and the Cactus League, I had never in my life been to Spring Training. This year that changed, and it was an absolute blast of a trip that I believe will become an annual tradition.
I should preemptively state that I did bring cards with me to potentially get signed, but my intent was not to try to too hard in obtaining them and instead enjoy the atmosphere. I was successful on both fronts. I went with my uncle and my brother, and on Thursday night we attended the first of five games, the Dodgers hosting the Rangers at Camelback Ranch. There were some guys signing (the main ones being Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, but I did not get anyone.
On Friday we intended to hit two games, so went to the Angels game against the Royals at Tempe Diablo Stadium and then the Mariners at Padres game at Peoria Sports Complex. The Angels did start some of their main starters but the only players that signed that I witnessed were Royals and I did not know any of the players who were doing so, so again came away empty handed except for the awesome hat seen below. Side note, the Spring Training 2023 hats this year were strong.
The Angels were blowing out the Royals in the 7th and we had to get across town to get to Peoria, so we left early and it ended up being a stroke of genius because the setup in Peoria was classic Spring Training. If you've never been, there is easy access to all the players at Padres camp, and when we showed up a couple hours before the game the whole team was split up and practicing on different fields. It legitimately had the feel of Little League where you can just walk up and watch and the players are just feet away and walking past you as they move around from field to field.
Cole Hamels signing.
Steven Wilson and another Padre player signing while teammates play catch on the field in the background.
Juan Soto and Xander Bogaerts in the case taking BP
I ended up chatting with Cole Hamels (whom I played against in High School) and took a selfie with him.
I also got the only two autographs I ended up getting on the whole trip, from Josh Hader and Julio Teheran, both of whom signed some Topps Heritage I brought with me.
The Padres got crushed but I did get another awesome hat and took some photos of the ballpark from our seats and we saw Fernando Tatis Jr hit a bomb so that was cool.
Saturday saw us heading out to Mesa to Hohokam Park to check out the A's hosting the Reds. Again, no one noteworthy signed autographs at all. In an odd way, this ended up being our favorite stop because it had the most old timey Spring Training feel. The parking lot is literally a grass field next to the ballpark in a neighborhood. We also had fantastic seats. They shad sold out of the A's spring training hats unfortunately, so I didn't add to my collection that day. Also, we randomly came across Tracy Morgan sitting in the lounge area down the right field line so I took a photo opp with him.
Saturday was supposed to be the last game we attended, but we decided to hit up one more before heading home to San Diego, so we chose the Guardians versus the Rockies out at Goodyear Ballpark. This was a newer ballpark and a little off the beaten path and ended up being quite a dull game played by mostly minor leaguers, but it was still a good thing because we ended up seeing ten different teams in four days. I also added the Guardians hat to my stash.
All in all, it was a 10/10 trip and I would not hesitate to go again. I wonder why it took me so long to do it the first place.
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