Spring Training 2009: Day One: Hit for More than Average

I actually rented a GPS, and I have to say it was no help getting me to the ballpark. At first. But I re-set it, and the GPS finally came on (I guess it was just maps before), and told me to go on the freeway (202). I didn't want to, but since I couldn't find the north or the east direction, I decided to do what it told me to. The menu did not have Papago Park or Phoenix Municipal Stadium, so I plugged in the hotel address and figure once it found Van Buren for me, I could take it from there. And that's what happened.

Phoenix Muni appeared to be sold out. LOTS of White Sox fans. Maybe 50-50 A's fans vs. Sox fans. My neighbors were all A's fans, and it was interesting how much they did not know about the team, especially the Sacramento couple behind me "Who's that? Has he been here before?" It wasn't until they started asking around that I would answer questions. "No, Corey Wimberley probably isn't 5'7"." "The starting pitcher is Vin Mazzaro."

Mazzaro got lit up and was taken out in the 2nd inning. He's one of those new phenom pitchers for the A's that has a chance at one of the two open spots in the A's rotation. Yes, the rotation is that bad. No, I don't think Mazzaro is going to be one of those after today's performance. Dallas Braden, who replaced him, got him with a homerun in his 2nd pitch, but settled down after that. However, the game was just a hitfest from both sides. I believe the score was 11-8 White Sox at the end, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Oakland A's outhit the Chicago White Sox.

It was great -- and surprising -- to see how well Kurt Suzuki hit. He's back from the offseason in Maui, and he continued right where he left off: being Oakland's most consistent hitter. He's dwarfed by the big guys in the lineup: Jason Giambi, Matt Holliday, even Ryan Sweeney. But he appears to know how to hit. And he has speed. He nearly went for the cycle today. I don't have the box scores in front of me, but he seemed to go 4 for 5. Just amazing.

Holliday still hasn't found the handle. And he failed to run out a pop fly, a fly which actually dropped in for a hit. He actually went from a dead standstill to a full run and beat out the throw, much to this fan's amazement. But after that, the woman next to me wouldn't let him forget it. "Love Oakland or leave it! And run out those pop flies!" She's convinced that he's just here for the year, or maybe even half a year -- Billy might dump him off if the A's are not in contention by July, and his heart is not into the Oaktown struggle for greatness. She may have a point.

And it was a thrill to see Mark Ellis play for the first time this spring. He was the designated hitter. The Sac couple behind me said, Well, then why isn't he playing 2nd base? I didn't bother filling them in.