Spring Training 2009: Day Two: Too Many Cubs

I got to Phoenix Muni parking at 11:13, 13 minutes after they opened. The parking was half full. Wow. So I'm glad I came early. I had a great seat -- often where the younger Boosters sit -- in a field box, in the outfield, right off first base. I got a lot of shots of Jason Giambi, who played first base, and all the Cubs players who made it to first base. There were a hella lot of them.

The final score was, I think, 20 - 5. I was having an early dinner at Applebee's right after the game, and the two women next to me, taking in my face tattoo and shirt, laughed and said it looked like I had just come from the game, too. At one point in our brief conversation while we waited for food, one said, "I wonder how they think we're going to make it through the season without pitching?" From your lips to Billy's ears.

I stayed my usual time at the game. If it had been a normal, you know, counting-type game, I would've left early. But I had these great seats! And the weather was perfect! The A's were not.

But if you stay long enough in a spring training game, you get to see some of the other players. Corey Wimberley, the guy whose listing in the program as 5'8" makes people laugh, did some flips in the air before practice, and pretty nearly did the same thing a couple of times during the game. At one point, someone yelled from the stands, "Corey, can you play first and third, too?"

Nomar Garciaparra is a hitting machine. His warm-up, though, is something to behold. It's stretching, stretching, stretching, and he did all of that in front of me before the game. Knowing that he has a hamstring issue, I'm not surprised.

This little kid next to me kept yelling, "Nomar! Nomar!" over and over during this stretching routine, as if the call of his name would bring him over to sign an autograph. Perhaps the Dodger hat put him off. (That was Nomar's former team, though.
One of them.)

But newbie Edgar Gonzalez, who had hoped to be one of the guys kept for the starting rotation, got bombed; he only got two outs while giving up eight hits and seven runs. His ERA for the spring is now over 12. None of the other A's pitchers did well, either. Starter Dana Eveland almost didn't get out of the first inning. He'd get ahead in the count, but then give up a pitch right down the middle. The Cubs were patient and just waited for that pitch.

Vin Mazzaro, whom we saw yesterday, got sent down today to Triple A. He has some work to do. Looks like the whole rotation -- those who aren't injured -- needs to do the same.

One bright spot: Ziggy arrived in camp! We saw him walk by the bullpen. His Team USA lost for the last time last night, as Japan took it to them, and he came back to work at his closer job. That job is totally his at this point, unless Joey Devine suddenly gets better.