too soon or a bit too late to catch a spring training game between the "Cactus League" teams. This trip our timing was right on and we snagged a pair of ticket's for today's contest between the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium, located near our hotel. The "Economic Downturn" appears to have taken its toll on Major League baseball's own form of "March Madness" (the NCAA men's basketball tournament West Regional was going on a few miles to the east in the Glendale arena that is home to the Arizona Cardinal pro football team) as a third or more of the stadium seats remained empty. But the hot dogs were hot, the beer was cold, and we had it made in the shade of the upper deck sitting fairly close to the field behind home plate. While the mercury only hit the mid-60's yesterday, today it warmed up to 80+ by the time the game ended a bit after 4 pm.
The Royals and Rangers, however, were tepid at best, and downright frigid for most of the game. Only one home run was hit, but the pitching was weak, and the the outfielders botched quite a few plays, with both clubs putting on an overall pusillanimous performance of pro-athletic prowess. The lead swung back and forth, with the Rangers jumping ahead, only to have the Royals tie the game on their next at bat. Thankfully, the Rangers scored three runs in the top of the ninth to break a 5-5 tie, then shut out the Royals in the bottom of the inning, bringing this painfully boring game to a conclusion, much to the joy of the fans. Still, it was a pleasant enough outing, even if it had a somnolent effect on me, as I kept nodding off between the start of the sixth inning and the seventh inning stretch.
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