posted on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 12:52 AM
by
Jim
White Sox bid Tucson toodles
It's supposedly a great day for the White Sox as they finalized their move from Tucson to
Glendale, but I'm having a hard time getting excited about it.
Sure, it's nice that
Matt Thornton gets to sleep in his own bed and
Jerry Reinsdorf's investments appreciate in value, but when you look at
the Tucson paper's reaction, it's more sad to me than anything.
"It's a really sad day for baseball here in Tucson," Board Chairman
Richard Elías said before the supervisors' 5-0 vote to accept the White
Sox's offer. [...]
Supervisors reserved irate comments not so much for the White Sox
but for communities up north, which used revenues generated by the
Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority to build new lavish facilities to
lure MLB teams not only from Tucson but Florida as well."
The
story's comments seem to back up that sentiment.
Having attended spring training the last three seasons, I'm going to miss Tucson, which is a fun town that's headed in the wrong direction.
Mainly, I hate this move for selfish reasons. My buddy Matt and I had the trip down
cold.
I'd take the flight out of Albany at the crack of ass with one connection to Tucson's airport. He'd take the cheap flight from Denver to Phoenix, grab the rental car there and make the drive down I-10 with enough time to grab tickets, and later sunblock after the FAA deemed it not safe for travel.
Every year, it worked out. My flights arrived at 12:35 on the dot. I never checked bags, so I'd hustle out to the parking lot, and we could get to Tucson Electric Park with 10 minutes to spare. We were in our seats with refreshments every year. Hell, we even challenged the flow when my dad tagged along last year. As it so happened, I was able to meet him in Chicago since my flight connected there, and we got in 10 minutes
early.
Maybe the greatest compliment I could pay spring training in Tucson is that I've never been a bigger fan of the airline industry before or after.
The Tucson trips had all the ingredients for a perfect, laid-back vacation: Easy transit, baseball every day, good (and relatively cheap) golf, good food, good beer, good scenery. TEP and Hi Corbett might not be "first-class" sports facilities like the new one in Glendale, but it was great B-games were held on a softball fields where even the dugouts weren't fenced in. Will the new park allow fans to sit next to managers and general managers, and force sluggers to squeeze through crowds to use the single port-a-potty? I'm pretty sure that's the kind of thing the Sox paid $5 million to escape from.
That the White Sox and Rockies no longer train 10 minutes apart takes most of the incentive out of going to Arizona for me (although Matt was kind enough to let the trips skew Sox-centric because of this site). It'll probably be a few years before I give it another shot, though I hope to hear good news from those of you that head to Glendale. Right now, the whole concept of this place sounds so sterile to me.
If nothing else, let me know if the new location still allows games of
"Restaurant or Furniture Store?" That's one of the things I'll miss the most.
*************************
Arizona (sniff) Fall League roundup:- Peoria 14, Phoenix 8
- The line for new Sox pitcher Jeff Marquez: 2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. Wheeeeeeeee.
- Cole Armstrong went 3-for-6 with a homer and three RBI.