Monday, March 22, 2010

Live from Spring Training: Day 1

1991 Topps #141 Nick Leyva MG

This will be a first for The Phillies Room. Christopher - co-worker, friend of the blog, and all-around good guy - is down in Florida to witness a few Spring Training games first hand. Over the next several days, he's agreed to file a field report with the day's happenings. Here's the first of our intrepid reporter's posts:

Poor starting pitching by the Phillies and Yankees starters led to a high-scoring game capped by a bottom-of-the-ninth rally by the Phillies to win the game, 9-7. That would have been a great game to see, but the tickets were sold out when I went to order them, so I spent the day in Dunedin watching the Blue Jays take on the Tigers. The Tigers trounced the Jays, 8-2, but it was a better game than the score reflects. The skies were overcast for the first half of the game, but the sun eventually came out, and we were glad to see it. All in all, regardless of the game I watched or the final score, a cloudy day in Florida beats a day in the office any day of the week.

Having been to both parks before last year, Dunedin Stadium pales in comparison to Bright House Field, principally because Dunedin Stadium is one of the older parks and Bright House Field is one of the new shining stars. Hot dogs and sodas at Dunedin Stadium were great, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow's trip to Bright House Field's concession stands, the tiki bar, lawn seating, and great views.

After getting up at 4:15 am this morning to make my flight (which then proceeded to take off an hour late), we'll be laying low tonight to rest up for the next three days - two trips to Bright House Field for home games and a road trip to Orlando to watch the Phils take on the Braves.

While it's officially spring everywhere now, it's particularly nice to be at Spring Training in Florida after the winter we had. More from Clearwater tomorrow...

Thanks Christopher! Frankly, nothing quite says fun in the sun like a baseball card of former Phillies manager and current Blue Jays bench coach, Nick Leyva. Tune in tomorrow when Christopher travels to sunny Clearwater, leaving Nick Leyva behind in Dunedin. Joe Blanton and the Phils face off against Pat Burrell and the Rays at 1:05.

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