Chasing baseballs!

Spring Training in Florida!

I've gotten a little behind on my writing over the last week or so.  It wasn't intentional, just a strange  combination of being a little busy mixed with a bit of laziness.  We're now in California.  Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, today not so much.  Hopefully it'll give me a chance to catch up while not missing any opportunities to be entertained by James and company.
Last Friday night Ben flew from Texas to Florida for a few days to visit and take in as many spring training baseball games as possible.  Our goal was four games at four different cities in four days.  If it hadn't have been for a couple of teams who clearly wanted a day off we would have made it.
We had our sites set on the following games;
Saturday:  Rays/Twins in Port Charlotte (Spring Training home of the Rays)
Sunday:    Pirates/Red Sox in Bradenton (Spring Training home of the Pirates)
Monday:  Tigers/Orioles in Lakeland (Spring Training home of the Tigers)
Tuesday:  Yankees/Rays in Tampa (Spring Training home of the Yankees)
Unlike Arizona (Cactus League), where the spring training facilities are all located in the Phoenix area. In Florida (Grapefruit League) they are spread out across the central and southern part of the state, so a little driving was required.  No problem, it gave us a little more visiting time.
Saturday morning we were off...……..

Game 1  Charlotte Sports Park, Port Charlotte   Rays/Twins...……..and rain!

Port Charlotte is located about an hour and a half drive south of Anna Maria Island.  We have a long history with Port Charlotte.  We lived there for about seven years back in the 80's.  My first job in healthcare was at the generically named "Medical Center Hospital" which is in Punta Gorda, a nice small city just across the Peace River from Port Charlotte.  Beth's sister, Debbie lives in Port Charlotte and most importantly, Ben and Sarah were both born while we were living there.
Port Charlotte was the spring training home of the Texas Rangers for a number of years before they moved to Arizona.  When we sold our home and stuff three years ago we did keep a few pictures.  I'm not sure where they are now but in that file there is a picture of Ben attending his first professional baseball game.  He was born on February 7, 1988.  The game was a Rangers spring training game so it would have been sometime in March.  I'm not sure how long we lasted at the game, but baseball clearly got in his blood at an early age!
Our adventure got off to less than a stellar start.  Ben, Beth, NaNa and I left the island early.  The gameplan was set.  Drop Beth and NaNa off at Debbie's house and head to the stadium in time for Ben to get a few baseballs autographed before the game.  He's got a very extensive collection of around 500 balls including numerous Hall of Famers, Rookies of the Year, Cy Young winners and much more.  Everything was working well...…...for a while.  We dropped Beth and NaNa off, said hello to Debbie and got to the stadium.  He had targeted three players whose autographs he wanted.  I think he actually got one or two of them, as well as another one or two that he was happy to add to his collection.
The game was scheduled to start at 1:05.  At about 1:01 it started to rain.  First it was a sprinkle, then a little harder, but never a serious downpour.  A quick glance at the radar showed that it was just a typical Florida passing shower and that after a short delay those famous words, "play ball" would be spoken and we'd be under way.  I guess the teams had a different idea because by 1:20 the game had been cancelled.  Maybe the fish were biting, the players had tee times for later that afternoon on one of the local golf courses, or just didn't feel like playing that day.  It certainly wasn't because the field was unplayable!  Oh well, we did enjoy a great dinner at Debbie's before heading back to the island already looking forward to chasing baseballs the next day.

The O'Tuckers on St. Patrick's Day at LECOM Park, Bradenton...… Home of the Pirates

Sunday was St. Patrick's day.  It was somewhat cool and cloudy but there wasn't any rain.  The World Champion Boston Red Sox were in Bradenton.  LECOM Park (one of my favorite parks) was sold out.  About 1/3 of the fans were Pirate fans, 1/3 were Red Sox fans and 1/3 were just baseball fans.  Most were united in their affection for the green Bud Lite that was flowing from the taps.  Scores aren't important in spring training games, they often end in ties.  While I'm not 100% certain, I think the Pirates took this one.  Unfortunately for Ben, the autograph hounds were numerous and none of his targeted players were signing so he was shut out for the day.

A sellout crowd at LECOM Park

Day three, and we were off to Lakeland, about an hour and a half drive northeast of the island.  Ben's first professional baseball game was in Port Charlotte. I'm not 100% sure, but my first professional game was most likely a Detroit Tiger game in Lakeland.  The dusty little, one red light (now there are more) town of Mulberry where I grew up is just south of Lakeland.  I remember going to games with my dad and actually seeing, what back in those days, was a very good Tiger baseball team (1968 World Champions).  Beth and NaNa rode with us to Plant City (located between Tampa and Lakeland).  Beth's sister Cindy lives there so they were able to visit with her while we were at the game.  At the game we were joined by my brother Gerald, which made for an even more enjoyable afternoon.  The Tigers still play at Marchant Stadium, which of course has been renovated numerous times over the years.  It's a nice ballpark with lots of amenities and for me, lot's of memories of days gone by.  Neither the Tigers or Orioles are projected to have very good seasons this year.  Ben told me that the Orioles are projected to lose 100 games again this year (a feat they accomplished with ease last year).  On this particular day, the Oriole faithful went home happy with a glimmer of hope for a better season than last year. With regards to autographs, when you have two teams that are "cellar dwellers" playing there aren't that many that a professional collector like Ben is interested in, so there wasn't really any effort.  Just a lot of fun conversation between the three Tucker boys.

The Tucker Trio at Joker Marchant Stadium, Lakeland...….Home of the Detroit Tigers

Our last game of this "chasing baseballs" expedition was the Yankees/Rays game in Tampa.  Ben's a big Ray's fan and while I'm more a fan of baseball food (hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, etc.) than a particular team, I do pull for the Ray's.  They have a history of doing fairly well in spite of having a payroll that is miniscule compared to many teams, especially teams like the Yankees who have more resources than most countries.  Steinbrenner Field (Spring Training Home of the Yankees) is obnoxiously nice and large.  Of course it is, it's the Yankee$!  Their games sell out even though the ticket prices are comparable to those of a regular season game in Yankee Stadium.  The big money payroll of the Yankees prevailed on this day.  It sprinkled a little before the game started so not too many players were signing so Ben was shut out again.

Steinbrenner Field, Tampa...….Home of the Yankee$

Four games in four days in four different stadiums.  A few autographs to add to the collection and for me (and hopefully for Ben) a whole bunch of memories of valuable time together.  Over the years the Tucker family has taken in a bunch of baseball games across the fruited plain.  Sometimes it's all four of us, sometimes just Beth and I, sometimes just Ben and I and recently there have been a few occasions where we've had Joey and James with us.  No matter how many of us are together and no matter where we are...……….. a few hours at a ballpark relaxing, laughing and eating ballpark food is always a blast!