Back to Salt River Fields

We've been to so many ball parks this Spring. We couldn't remember how long it took to get to Salt River Fields, so we left at eleven and were here pretty early. In fact, so early that the ground crew was still mowing the field! It's fun to watch how their mower has both blades and rollers so that they can lay down all those fancy stripes you see. It was early enough that the paint crew still had to paint the batting boxes and the first and third base lines. They have forms for the boxes and use cans of white spray paint.

The Mariners had a split squad today. They played the Colorado Rockies here at Salt River Fields while another portion of the squad played the Oakland A's at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. This was
the last game at the Muni as the A's will be moving next Spring to Hohokum Park in Mesa. Neither portion of the Mariners fared well today. The Rockies came back with a run in the ninth to win that game 4-3 and the A's took their contest 6-5.

This is a shot of the center field area between the grassy areas. They have planted it with beautiful saguaros and other cacti. Can you visualize what it will look like in several more years. Forgive the grid -- we were sitting behind the home plate screen. Great seats!