The Rangers Last Game, Garagiola, Mountains, Prescott

Day 227 on the road.

The Rangers and MLB ended Spring Training this week, officially on Thursday. A new record attendance of 1.3 million fans made it to the Cactus League this year. The reason: severe winter weather in the north and east made it easy for many to head south for some baseball this year. An estimated 60 percent of the fans are from out of state.

I attended the last two Rangers home games, one was a night game on Tuesday night. The weather was perfect. The last game was yesterday. It began at Noon so the players could get out of town early.

Joe Garagiola was at the game autographing his new book, "Just Play Ball."

Below is a video clip from yesterday's last game of the 2008 season.

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I met a Rangers Bat Boy at a game when he took the seat next to mine while his mother remained on the lawn in the outfield. I was shooting a video clip when he convinced a player to toss him a ball. I promised him I would post the clip of him on YouTube, so here it is. He was back to work on the bench yesterday with the Rangers, shagging balls and bats.




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After the game I drove through the mountains to Prescott, Arizona. I'm there now. I'm posting this update from a Starbucks north of downtown. What a beautiful town, sitting on the slopes of the mountains and in the Prescott National Forest.


The trip from Surprise was easy enough. I just took Hwy. 69 north to a little town called Wickenburg. From there I took Hwy. 89 north which takes you directly through a mountain range.
Be prepared to take your time if you drive this scenic route to Prescott. The roads curve severely and you must reduce your speed in most cases to 20-25 miles an hour. But the views are breathtaking.











Once you arrive in Prescott, you find a nice sized town built among the slopes of the mountains that surround the town. I've not seen one street that isn't sloped or elevated. The new mall is built in what looks like a hill that was cut out for that purpose.

Downtown has a monumental country courthouse and plaza that is heavily treed and beautiful. I read that this historic town was the first capital of the new Arizona territory under President Lincoln.

When I visited the Westgate City Center in Glendale last Friday before the Rangers game I took some video. It's an amazing place to go shopping or have a nice lunch. When the Super Bowl was in town in February (the game was played next door at the University of Phoenix Stadium), the place was wall-to-wall people. I went back last week to see the place under more normal circumstances. Let me know what you think of my great camera skills...(thanks to Joe Cocker for providing the sound track).

Day 224 on the road.

Tonight I'll attend another Rangers game in Surprise. The last game before Spring Training breaks for the season is on Thursday at noon, and that will bring my month in the Phoenician valley to an end for a while. On Friday I'm attending the Tempe Festival of the Arts in the Mill Ave. shopping district near Arizona State University before I leave town on Saturday.

I've enjoyed my stay here, but I'm getting the itch to move on West. My first stop will be in Prescott, then probably head north toward the Grand Canyon. I'm watching the weather up north--it still looks a little cold in the upper elevations of northern Arizona. But as long as I don't run into any snow I'll be fine.

I will spend some time in Red Rock Country in Sedona, which proclaims to have been "voted the most beautiful place in America."