I don’t really have a bucket list, but if I did, going to a Cubs spring training game would’ve been on it. However, I’ve only been in Arizona maybe four times in my life and none of those have been during spring training.
Until this year … We didn’t go out of our way to work it out, but our visits at the Phoenix churches just happened to be during the same time as spring training. We had a church visit in the morning and another one at night – but were able to get to Mesa for the game.
A thanks to Cindy because although she is a big A’s fan, she made the sacrifice to go with me.
Sloan field (named so romantically after the Sloan Valve Company) is the largest of all the Cactus League parks with seating for approximately 15,000. The day we were there, the attendance was 15,300. Tickets for the Cub games are also the most difficult to get – so you need to order them early.
The park is has a touch of Wrigley Field in its designe, which is very cool (although instead of rooftop seating, Sloan has grass sitting.) We bypassed the grass and sat along overlooking left field – right at the fence. The players are not accessible – though I guess if you know exactly where to stand when, you can get autographs – but you’re talking a fairly major park here.
The announcer welcomed us:
It’s a beautiful 64 degrees for today’s ballgame! And in Chicago it’s a beautiful 66 degrees!
But the day was baseball-playing perfect!
Cubs loss, but even that was ok. The game didn’t count and it was all rather glorious.
Observations From the 2nd Floor 