PEORIA, Ariz. – The trip east from San Diego to Peoria on I-8 has become almost a yearly jaunt over the last three-plus decades — buggy drives (mosquitoes plastered all over the windshield) on the 85, scary drives back through snow in the Laguna Mountains.
The sounds of baseball after four months being away; the sights of the bright green grass and kids trying to get autographs from their Major League heroes; the sounds of ease and recreation relax into a rhythm, as the annual visit to the desert climate unfolds.
Bobby Witt Jr. crushes a three-run homer to left in preparation for representing the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic. Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz, wiry and strong, seemingly effortlessly turns a double play.
These are images from spring training in Arizona, a hot experience, temperature-wise, but enjoyable as always, as colder weather turns to the bright prospects of baseball, spring, and the crack of the bat.
Daily games are preceded by a trek to a morning workout to see Teoscar Hernandez almost hilariously drop a ball during a flyball-in-the-bright-sun practice, and watching World Series hero Blake Snell face hundreds of youngsters shouting his name, wanting their jersey or ball to be validated with an autograph.
Later, at an exhibition game, all-star Luis Castillo, having struggled in an early-spring appearance on the mound, long braids curling down his back, blows off similar autograph hounds as he slinks away on a Mariners golf cart to back fields for the rest of his workout.
These are parts, not the whole, of yet another palette of elements used to paint the desert scenes of Arizona for nearly a full week’s stay. A unique experience that maybe only a baseball enthusiast can crave.
Day games at 1:10 p.m. — in too much heat for us older adults to endure — with the occasional night game (Friday at Peoria Sports Complex) between the Mariners and Diamondbacks. Catcher Cal Raleigh is already sitting out to get ready for the World Baseball Classic, veteran first baseman Josh Naylor having to fill in as the focal center for Seattle.
The backdrop? The looming lockout by billionaire owners fed up with rising salaries dished out by colleagues, which threatens to happen on Dec. 1. No guarantees of spring training next year, despite the increasing flow of big bucks to players and owners. That was a thought.
Besides baseball, close friendships have been built with long-time friends who live in the Phoenix area. So a timeout, a conversation, and of course, a good meal help renew the annual rhythm of visits.
Only a short visit to delightful Hole-in-the-Rock in Papago Park — where natives kept track of the seasons by the position of the sun projecting through the natural opening — was possible. Individuals could be seen already in the cave high above, pausing in the 92-degree blanket, their position yielding a view across the Valley of the Sun.
