Mariners Preseason experience, 2023

A very packed stadium, 8,800 ish.

 Preseason baseball is SO MUCH more interesting than any sort of other sport in the dreary days of winter here in the Seattle area!

To be able to fly out to Phoenix AZ and experience the sun again is life affirming!  This was the plan made in December of 2022, setting up an excursion for Feb.25-28.

The President (Larry or LD) is my baseball oracle and answers my questions as they come up, no matter how mundane.  It is very nice of him to do so and he is the ideal person to set up our tour! 

Accommodations, car rental, tickets to the stadiums, ideas for outside leisure pursuits, etc...  He has to work and travel too much but that travel for his work has made him expert in spotting bargains when he is NOT on the company expense account.

The flight down:

We each booked our own flight, my own being paid for with air miles.  Alaska Airlines flies to about 8 destinations from Everett's Paine Field and Phoenix was one of them.  It was my first exposure to this airport.  I will state for the record that this airport is the BEST I have experienced in my life!  The waiting lounge looks like a private luxury club and parking is right across the street (Note:  Parking is expensive but very convenient.)

TSA is still TSA but once past that this is very nice.  The view has the Olympics (snow capped) beyond the air field.  I think there are only 4 gates to board from..

The flight down was 2.5 hours and no issues.  I had upgraded my seat to Premium getting me a free drink, extra leg room, and easy carryon luggage storage  because I was boarded in Group B.  Tthe President using his MVP Gold status was booked into the emergency row with special chocolate bits and boarded in group A at no extra charge.

Nice way to travel.

The ground transport:

With our carryon luggage we deboarded and made our way to the rental car LD had set up from Touro, a private owner allowing his car to be rented for $52 a day.  Taking the Sky Train, walking about 4 blocks and finding our 2022 Hyundai Elantra in a dirt parking lot next to the Crown Hotel.

There are a LOT of white four doors down here!
This is a 2022 Hyundai Elantra.

Lock box on the window revealed a key once decoded and photos of the car taken prior to take off. This was a nice 4 door sedan.  LD programmed his phone to direct us to the ballfield and we parked for free ( a bonus with all the preseason games).  There are a bunch of retired guys directing traffic to the parking areas.  Very easy!

Baseball:  

Sat Feb 25 vs Angel L 5-1

Sun. Feb 26 at Royals L8-7

Tues. Feb.28 vs Guardians W9-8

(Mariners preseason record at time of writing this blog: 3-4)

The weather was in the mid 70s and just gorgeous.  We had seats in the shade (good idea for us) for about $25 each seat.  Just above the third base dugout.  As memory serves the Mariners lost due to using a pitcher that is less likely to make the club.  Some of the likely starters for the season team, were playing and they seemed to go away after the 6th inning but ??? 

Our first game of the trip, sitting in 75F sunny weather.  Pretty good stuff!

This was close and free parking!

This stadium is very nice but there are limited food choices.  I settled for kettle corn and water..  Cash is not used, credit card or maybe phone payments only.

Waling about and taking in a circuit of the ballfield was a good idea.  The stadium was pretty full as it was a Saturday game.  The average age went up quite a bit for the weekday games.

Players signing autographs on their exit from the field.
Evan White, Sam Haggerty and ?

The fans are really excited about this season and the players appear to be a capable team, having made it to the second round of the playoffs in 2022 for the first time ever!

While were at the 2nd game I texted to a group of friends after Jared Kelenik hit two homers back to back!  I was told to go to a certain seat in the stadium to say hello to Dixie, mother of Jimmmmmaaaa.  That was not possible but as we were in the wrong stadium for her season tickets.  The search did get me interfacing with local police and ushers but that went smoothly.  I did find Dixie on Tuesday and that was great fun.

Medical Room:

A medical emergency of sorts came to pass as LD had an allergic reaction to something unknown.  He had to have an IV stuck in with Benedril and then seemed to be fine for the rest of the trip.

Not a vision done by photo shop.  Swelling and passing out were the worst symptoms.

Accommodation:

Morning coffee was very fine on our porch.

We drove to our Tiny House found by LD on VRBO.  Dr. Clark Campbell, an optometrist owns it and has been putting many rentals on his two acre horse farm in Scottsdale.  Very peaceful and since all hotels are high priced at this time, the money for this is not out of line.  Cost was $570 for the three nights.  LD got the loft queen bed and The Count got the futon on the main floor. Both were comfy.

This tiny house option was luxurious and while small, had all the amenities one would want.

LD demonstrating the sliding TV storage..

The auxiliary half bath outside the tiny house.

We went to Fry's Grocery for breakfast food and vodka.  We had very relaxing starts to our days and evenings.  Fresh squeezed orange/and grapefruits picked outside our door really enhanced the experience.  Our landlord even loaned us an electric juicer that was VERY efficient  and easy to use.

We would go through approximately 10 oranges a night and another 10 in the morning.  No shortage of them.  We had purchased a manual ($5) juice squeezer at Fry's but it was not even close to the electric one in terms of getting the juice out of the orange! The little juicer was donated to the tiny house.  We returned the loaned electric one to the owner.

Sunrise at 07:00 and 35F (ish)

There were three horses outside in the compound and another couple rentals but not being used so basically we had the place to ourselves.  Very quiet and private.  Seriously superior to a hotel!

Our very quiet neighbors.

Activities beyond baseball:

Disc golf:

There are many things to do in Phoenix but we limited ourselves to one day off from baseball to play a day of disc golf.  The Mariners lost that day to the Cubs by a score of 10-1 so that was a good time to not be there.  We played first on a course that was set up for the upcoming (the next weekend) for a Pro Disc Golf tournament and we found it to be long and missing a bunch of baskets since it was prepped for the pros.  

 

We then went off into the desert to a more manageable course of shorter holes.  Did not see one snake but were convinced they were in the neighborhood.

Our disc score for the desert course.  The Count did not throw well!

Sunny location:

We managed to find a Starbucks on the Arizona State University campus and found that just sitting in the sun with an iced drink was one of the best things we could be doing.  We did that two days!  An activity to be repeated on future visits.

The sun was a treat to hang out in. We found an iced coffee and enjoyed the luxury.

Oranges and Grapefruit:

Back at our ranch location, we were entranced by the access to too much citrus!  It just seems to grow all over and is ignored mostly by those who live there.

One of 4-6 orange trees on the property.  

LD in full juice production.  Cut, squeeze, garbage disposal and pour.

This is the brand to get!  So easy to use and very easy to clean too.

Cribbage:

In addition to binge watching Formula 1 racing on Netflix we got in 23 games of cribbage with a final score of 15-8 in favor of The Count.  Two skunks were put on LD but most games were a delta of less than 10.