Thursday, February 28, 2008

Grapefruit League Tour 2008: Seminoles vs Phillies

As I did last year, I am again planning on visiting a few spring training games throughout Florida in 2008. The games are cheap, the weather is nice (usually), and there are about 8 or so spring training parks within a couple of hours from Tampa.

This year's tour however, began on a poor note. Tuesday night I ventured over the bridge and through the rain (again!) to Clearwater, spring home to the Philadelphia Phillies. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one visiting Clearwater. Also making himself known shortly after I entered the stadium was Tlaloc, the Aztec God of Rain, or Chac, as he was known to the Mayans.

From the concourse at Brighthouse Networks Field, myself and hundreds, if not thousands, of Seminole and Phillie fans waited as Tlaloc washed away our hopes of baseball. Instead of the crack of the bat and the comforting feeling that spring was once again upon us, we were given a deluge of precipitation and an onslaught of ill weather. You could almost see this mighty god smiling down as he toyed with our patience, stopping his waves of water for several minutes, only to have them resume at a higher ferocity when our optimism began to rise. After nearly an hour of toying with our emotions, the evil ways of Tlaloc won out and the public address announcer declared the game cancelled.

On a positive note, in addition to the exchange potential of my original ticket, I was handed two more tickets by nearby fans to exchange for future Phillies spring training contests of my choice. That's free baseball. And although it is not a contest against my beloved alma mater, there is nothing wrong with free baseball.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Grapefruit League Tour Stop 1: Seminoles vs. Phillies

As I did last year, I am again planning on visiting a few spring training games throughout Florida in 2008. The games are cheap, the weather is nice (usually), and there are about 8 or so spring training parks within a couple of hours from Tampa.

This year's tour however, began on a poor note. Tuesday night I ventured over the bridge and through the rain (again!) to Clearwater, spring home to the Philadelphia Phillies. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one visiting Clearwater. Also making himself known shortly after I entered the stadium was Tlaloc, the Aztec God of Rain, or Chac, as he was known to the Mayans.

From the concourse at Brighthouse Networks Field, myself and hundreds, if not thousands, of Seminole and Phillie fans waited as Tlaloc washed away our hopes of baseball. Instead of the crack of the bat and the comforting feeling that spring was once again upon us, we were given a deluge of precipitation and an onslaught of ill weather. You could almost see this mighty god smiling down as he toyed with our patience, stopping his waves of water for several minutes, only to have them resume at a higher ferocity when our optimism began to rise. After nearly an hour of toying with our emotions, the evil ways of Tlaloc won out and the public address announcer declared the game cancelled.

On a positive note, in addition to the exchange potential of my original ticket, I was handed two more tickets by nearby fans to exchange for future Phillies spring training contests of my choice. That's free baseball. And although it is not a contest against my beloved alma mater, there is nothing wrong with free baseball.