Current job: Player-personnel senior adviser, Montreal Expos. Cool because: Hit .279 over fifteen years as a big-leaguer. Former Cubs manager. Scottsdale resident. First spring training: “I came here as a player in 1947 with the New York Giants. The Giants were in Phoenix, and the Cleveland Indians were in Tucson…
Current job: Second baseman, Chicago Cubs. Cool because: Has won six straight Gold Gloves. Needs 73 more games at second base to qualify as the all-time leading second baseman in fielding percentage. Lifetime batting average of .284. Resides in Tempe during the off-season because: “When I was with the Phillies,…
I’m not about to get into the Tucson-Phoenix squabble, which seems to exist only because people in both places need to feel superior to someone, anywhere. It’s boring. Suffice it to say that people in Phoenix believe they’re superior to their counterparts in Tucson because we’ve got several semiprofessional sports…
You’d think that a ballclub with a name like “Brewers” would play in a place suited for rollicking good times. But Compadre Stadium, the spring field for the Milwaukee baseball team, is located in the wilds of exurban Chandler, Arizona, the national center for overbuilt subdivisions. And, as such, not…
In spring, Muni is home field for the Oakland Athletics, an American League team that I may never forgive for losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in last year’s World Series. Still, the A’s probably will be the best team to watch, baseball-wise, during this year’s spring training, if that’s…
?By whatever weird twist of logic, the San Diego Padres do their spring training in Yuma. This is a city of military people and retired people, two groups I don’t fit in with too well. Otherwise, Yuma is a good place to get gasoline on your way back from San…
The Angels have their cleats in two worlds. For the first two weeks of spring training, the club practices and plays exclusively in the Valley, based at the Gene Autry complex on East McKellips. For the second half of March, the squad spends its time exclusively in Palm Springs. So…
When the wickedly popular Chicago Cubs come to the Valley every spring, this ballpark becomes the epicenter of more activity than it can really stand. After all, the address says Mesa. HoHoKam has some charm, but it is in no way charming enough to make up for the March madness…
This is where the Seattle Mariners “play” their spring games, where every new line-up card brims with the promise of the franchise’s first halfway successful season, and where I sold beer for a living exactly five years ago right this minute. Hawking cold bullets up and down the gently sloping…
Home base for the San Francisco Giants, this charming park is a big favorite with fans of the truly hep persuasion. Many absolutists hold that Scottsdale is the absolute best place to catch a game, because of primo sightlines throughout and the cozy feel of the grandstands in relationship to…
When you get right down to it, there are just two kinds of people in this world: There are people who like Steve Garvey, and there are people who don’t. Every single person, be they young or old, thin or fat, Pentecostal televangelist or Satan-worshiping heavy-metal bass-guitar player, shakes down…
Dear Cap’n Dave, Where can you go in Phoenix and spend $3 for a lunch that would fill a Phoenix Cardinals defensive lineman? Answer: Food City, at 1648 South 16th Street. A mixed burro, side of beans, and a medium Coke will set you back $2.94 (before tax). I’ve traveled…
Dear Cap’n Dave, I find this luncheon spot (The Turtle’s Hurdle) very good. The food is tops and the place is extra clean. Try it sometime. Walter F. Dudley Accountant Phoenix I found The Turtle’s Hurdle just north of the lovely intersection of Indian School and 15th Avenue. A garden…
