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 – 1st overall pick in 2009 by Washington Nationals; MLB debut in 2010), Brian Matusz (USD – 4th overall pick in 2008 by Baltimore Orioles; MLB debut in 2009), A.J. Griffin (USD – 13th 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.”
Small Ball Shenanigans 