Carlos Silva pitched 3 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out 3 as the Twins beat the Devil Rays, 4-2

Monday started off in a rush as I woke up an hour and a half late. I was leaving from New York’s JFK airport so I had at least an hour ride ahead of me. I left my house at 6:00 AM in an attempt to make an 8:00 AM flight. My biggest concern was making it through the extensive airport security…especially with a last name like mine! I arrived at the long-term parking facility and proceeded to board the “Air Train.” It was now 7:15 AM. No problem. I’m 5 minutes away I thought.

Well, I was wrong. The security wasn’t that much of a problem, but the lines were. By the time I checked my bag, got through security, put my damn shoes back on and looked for the gate, it was 7:55! I began a moderate jog through the terminal, causing me to think of O.J. “the murderer” Simpson back when he was doing the Hertz commercials. As luck would have it, my gate (#3) was the last one on the east side of the terminal.

About a minute later, I heard an announcement over the public address system. “This is the last call for flight 177 to Phoenix. Will passenger Hamrahi please check-in for an on-time departure.” Ok, now I was sprinting! At precisely 7:58 I reached the gate. The attendant asked if I was going to Phoenix. I mumbled yes since by this time I was a little out of breath. He proceeded to chastise me and said they were now closing the door.

He was exaggerating a little, but I guess he wanted to scare me or something. I WAS the last passenger to board the plane, however. It’s not the most comfortable feeling walking onto an airplane with 150 passengers looking up at you with disgusted looks on their faces.

There are two funny and interesting points to be made here. One…I am NEVER late like this for any important appointment. In fact, I usually am the one sitting around waiting for hours. And the other interesting point...I was flying JET BLUE! Why can’t their flights be delayed when you need them to be delayed!

Needless to say, I was pretty exhausted by the morning’s events and slept a good portion of the 5 hour flight from New York to Arizona.

We arrived in Phoenix at 11:15 AM local time. I took the shuttle to the rental car center and picked up my modest compact car with manual windows and locks. I didn’t think they made cars like that anymore, but oh well. Anyway, while waiting for my vehicle, it was clear I wasn’t in New York anymore. The temperature was a warm 80 degrees. Ah, that felt good! (In Manhattan, forecasts called for wind chills to be -5 degrees tonight). Just that fact alone already made this trip a success.

I headed out onto the freeway (they’re called highways back east) and made my way toward Surprise Stadium, located on the outskirts of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. On my way I passed the brand new University of Phoenix Stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play their home games. It’s an interesting structure that resembles a big bubble. It almost looks like a space station in the middle of nowhere. A little odd I thought.

As I continued on Loop 101 toward Surprise, it dawned on me that there was a lot more traffic here than I expected. The roads were very congested for 12:30 in the afternoon. The view though was much better than what I generally experience on the Long Island Expressway. I took in the mountainous backdrop and refrained from complaining. After all, it was still 80 degrees no matter how you looked at it!

I arrived in Surprise and proceeded to the ballpark. Much to my satisfaction, parking was free. Normally I would be able to park in the press lot, but I had yet to pick up my credentials. Speaking of credentials, it’s really interesting how little anyone trains the poor Spring Training employees. This isn’t unique to Arizona either. I remember something similar happening in Florida last year. I literally had to ask about 5 different people today how to get access to the Royals offices located down the third base line. Nobody seemed to have any idea.

When I finally found someone who could help me, I was told that the “woman who handles the credentials is out to lunch.” Let’s pause for a moment here. This is a Major League Baseball organization that is in the midst of a game against another Major League organization and the person handling media credentials is out to lunch? It’s ok to laugh now. How many things are wrong with that picture? One person? Out to lunch? You get where I’m going with this.

While I waited for the woman to “return from lunch,” I stood along the left field line above the Royals bullpen. I had a chance to watch a few innings of the game from the very empty outfield corner. I even snapped a few photographs that you can check out in the gallery. I got a chance to see Alex Gordon take a few cuts, Mike Cameron launch a huge homer for the Padres, and Mark Teahen make a leaping grab to rob a home run in right field.

The lady eventually did return from her lunch and was actually very pleasant. She found my credentials without a problem, and I made my way back to the left field corner. It was already 2:30, and I was beat. The morning took so much out of me. I decided to head back to Scottsdale and check-in to my hotel. I would start fresh on Tuesday.

General Observations of the Day

• It appears Jet Blue has solved their problems with delays!
• Arizona is beautiful, and the weather couldn’t have been better than it was today.
• The Phoenix sports talk radio station sucks…I mean, really sucks. (It’s Xtra Sports 910 for those of you who want to steer clear)
• I’m not sure if I brainwashed myself into thinking this way, but no matter where I was, I seemed to smell some sort of barbecue. It just smelled good everywhere!
• It’s very easy to get around town…especially from one park to another.

Baseball Observations of the Day

I’ll obviously have more information from my next visit to Surprise later in the week, but here a few observations from today:

• The ballpark is very nice, clean, and cozy. It didn’t hurt that there were fewer people in attendance than there were at some AA games I’ve been to, but nevertheless, it was a comfortable setting.
• Mark Teahen looks very comfortable in right field
• Alex Gordon has such a great swing. There are almost no moving parts in his approach. He’s so smooth.
• Kevin Koumanoff made a nice play coming in on a tapper down the third base line.

My Schedule for the Week (Subject to Change)

Tuesday, March 6

Kansas City at Oakland in Phoenix @1:05

Arizona at San Diego in Peoria @ 7:05

Wednesday, March 7

Oakland at Chicago Cubs in Mesa @ 1:05

Bobcats at Suns (Basketball) @ 7:00 – Life is not only about baseball. There are other sports (I think!)

Thursday, March 8

San Francisco at Milwaukee in Maryvale @ 1:05

Canucks at Coyotes (Hockey) @ 7:00

Friday, March 9

Chicago Cubs at Texas in Surprise @ 1:05

LA Angels at Kansas City in Surprise @ 7:05

Saturday, March 10

Texas at San Francisco in Scottsdale @ 1:05

Sunday, March 11

San Diego at Arizona in Tucson @ 1:05

Kansas City at Colorado in Tucson @ 1:05

(I plan to take in ½ of each game)

Scott wraps up the Senior Circuit for us with his fantasy preview of the National League West. Will we see the emergence of young superstars in Arizona? What impact will Randy Wolf and Jason Schmidt have on the Dodgers? And what about that guy Bonds in San Francisco?

Check out our final analysis of the National League!