The Baseball Season Has Begun… College Baseball

While Spring Training action is just getting underway for the boys in “The Bigs” down in Florida and Arizona, the boys who are striving to make it there someday currently in NCAA programs have begun their actual regular season campaigns for 2013.

My whole life, even during my years in college as an undergrad, I have never attended an NCAA baseball game. Pretty amazing considering the success of the University of San Diego Toreros program “in my backyard” in the last decade alone, and even with Tony Gwynn running things across the 8 down at San Diego State University. It’s pretty unfortunately actually, being an avid baseball enthusiast whatnot and missing out on watching a couple of recent MLB players before they made it to the pros – Stephen Strasburg (SDSU – 1^st overall pick in 2009 by Washington Nationals; MLB debut in 2010), Brian Matusz (USD – 4^th overall pick in 2008 by Baltimore Orioles; MLB debut in 2009), A.J. Griffin (USD – 13^th rd selection in 2010 by Oakland Athletics; MLB debut in 2012); to name a few.

With the recent renovation project of USD’s Cunningham Field into now Fowler Park and Cunningham Field, and even more fitting, hosting the cross-town rivalry series against SDSU to open the park, it was only natural to take a trip to the new field with my usual group of baseball gameday friends. The park is incredibly beautiful – matches the décor of the beautiful campus, the sight lines are amazing in that you never lose sight of the field once you enter the concourse at the top, and everything is nice and up close to the action to where you can appreciate the little nuances of the game. It was a different experience than the grand showcase atmosphere of a Major League game. Though college baseball doesn’t grab the attention of many people, it’s always fun to watch the amateurs play with such passion and excitement that is often forgotten or somewhat even frowned upon at the pro level. One thing that I loved was that all the players watched and showed spirit the entire game from the top step of the dugout steps. Being close to the action and getting to hear the chatter coming from both dugouts really shows how much the pro game is a “kid’s game played amongst men.” While these student-athletes are young men in the late teens to early 20s, for the most part they are still kids playing this awesome boy’s game with young boyish enthusiasm – not a trace of the business aspect of the game showing through.

Newly renovated Cunningham Field at USD – now Fowler Park and Cunningham Field

Of course, the big league game is where all the attraction is for us fans and for these young men striving to get to. But the road to the show; all the way down to amateur play in the NCAA to the different levels of the minors is a different but still exciting brand of the game – one that definitely helps you appreciate the game even more. I’ve yet to attend a minor league game also. I definitely think I’ll find myself at a few more games at beautiful Fowler Park for USD, Tony Gwynn Stadium for SDSU, and north of San Diego for some California League (High A ball) games.

In the words of Roy Hobbs in The Natural, “God, I love baseball.”

Padre Fan? Blogging? … Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That!

Like most New Years Resolutions, last year’s vow to resume blogging about the Padres, as well as other sports related material failed miserably. Well, here we are again before the start of Spring Training and I have the itch to actually be productive with this thing. Believe me, I could talk baseball for hours on end. But for the purposes of this blog, I’ll try to spread out some of my thoughts/analysis/fan anecdotes in hopes of maintaining the interests of both you the readers, as well as myself when writing.

With that said, this time of year is about as exciting as a time for all baseball fans. It’s still more than a month and a half before the regular season begins. However, the offseason seems long and brutal. Just the mere headline of pitchers and catchers beginning to report for Spring Training is the first sign that there’s really a new season is almost upon us. There’s nothing like the sight of the fresh-cut green grass, the sweet sound of bat making contact with the ball, and the pop of the glove when the ball meets leather. As said in the movie Moneyball, “it’s hard not to be romantic about baseball.”

Still Not Much News, But What Did Happen Yesterday…

For us San Diego Padres fans, we were treated to that first taste of Padres baseball in 2013 when they held their annual FanFest yesterday at Petco Park. Though the team hardly made any significant moves during the offseason, just the sight of the players and excited fans filling the ballpark offered excitement to start the 2013 baseball campaign. For me and my two friends that I normally frequent Padres games/events with, we’re familiar with the FanFest shindig by now. We did the typical walk through the clubhouse and onto the field, shagged a couple fly balls (including executing the perfect back bump celebration when switching off – which drew some excitement from the crowd… no joke), copped free swag all over the stadium, rummaged the garage sale, and even got interviewed by KUSI and made it onto the evening news. A couple of other notes from the event:

• Though we did get early entry into the event with Padres membership, unfortunately, we couldn’t stay long enough to sit through some of the player/owner panels. Actually, I don’t mind missing some of the front office Q&A session but I definitely like the players’ time to talk. Nothing like casual player/fan interactions to keep them loose and excited for the road ahead this year. Although if they did address one serious and perhaps touchy subject, I would’ve liked to hear thoughts on Grandal’s suspension, especially after recent revealing news surfaced after the announcement of his suspension.
• Speaking of Grandal, obviously his nameplate was removed from whichever locker was his (there were a few unoccupied lockers). I won’t go into his whole situation but I must say that I’m disappointed with him. Just touring through the workout room in the clubhouse, you can envision the guy lifting up whole machines – I mean, seriously, he was on a crapload of stuff. What a shame.
• I was disappointed that the new dimensions were not complete yet. I was really looking forward to seeing the final result but I guess we’ll just have to wait for the season to begin to see the final renovations and more importantly, how much of a difference it will actually make.
• Nothing much really grabbed my attention at the garage sale. Though game used uniforms sound cool, they’re way too large for me as a 5’5 guy. Obviously, if they had players of note that I’d even care to purchase my only use for it would be to put on display anyway. Although, in a few years if they have any Alexi Amarista game used jerseys/gear, I would totally buy it since we’re the same height! Almost bought a couple banners but used my better judgment knowing that it would end up collecting dust after it stopped being a conversation piece that day.
• Lastly, I caught a glimpse of Cameron Maybin giving a hitting tutorial at the kid’s whiffle ball field at the Park at the Park. I’ve said it before, I think the guy is awesome. He might not be a superstar (yet) but he’s definitely a guy parents should tell their young ball-playing kids to model themselves after. He seems to genuinely enjoy himself on and off the field. You have to appreciate that kind of attitude. I’ll leave you with this picture taken by the San Diego Padres staff. Such an excellent picture:

Already passing the game along to another generation! How awesome is that?!

As for this generation, I can’t wait for another season to begin again!