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The boys of spring are in full swing
By Lou Christopher
achris25@mscd.edu

Eight hundred and ninety-three miles southwest of Denver and almost 20 degrees warmer, in Tucson, Ariz., baseball spring training awaited a Metro social documentary class ready for sports and journalism.

The trip took place during Metro’s spring break and was available to journalism majors and minors.

Five students decided to make the trek via the long and hard road, while one, with less patience for the scenic route, made his way to Arizona with some help from America West Airlines.

The first game on our calendar was the Colorado Rockies facing off against the Chicago Cubs at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson.

The Rockies beat the Cubs, coming back from an early two-run deficit in the first only to score four runs of their own in the fourth, securing the win 4-2 in the hot Arizona sun.

Wednesday’s game pitted the Rockies against the Seattle Mariners. The Rockies would not fair as well as they had the previous day. They again would have a four-run inning, this time in the third, but that would not be enough for the Rockies as the Mariners won the game handily 7-4.

The final game of the expedition took the class to Phoenix before the trip wrapped up.

The class would be watching the Cubs again, this time against the San Diego Padres and acclaimed pitcher Greg Maddux. Maddux pitched for the Cubs for a large portion of his career – including last season – before being traded by the Cubs to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Storm clouds rumbled and lightning flashed as the game progressed at Peoria Sports Complex, with Cubs pitcher Mark Prior giving up a few hits in the first inning, but a stingy Cubs defense limiting the damage to only one run.

The rumbling and flashing soon turned to rain as fans ran for cover during a rare Phoenix rainstorm.

The game was called in the fifth due to weather, and with that, so was the baseball portion of our trip. The rained-out game was a bit of a letdown, but the spring rain and screaming fans more than made up for it.

Spring training showed me that baseball is alive and well. No steroid controversy or heated contract talks appear to ever be able to truly tarnish the image of baseball – at least not enough to stop the real fans from coming to the games.

The fans that make the journey to Arizona for baseball’s preseason run the gamut. The Arizona retired community represented a large portion of the crowd, with the gorgeous weather and moderate winter temperatures bringing them for the winter and keeping them through spring.

The parks were small and intimate, with a more laid-back attitude than most Major League venues. The players, and even the managers, appeared to be enjoying themselves. I know I did.