Departure From Spring Training

I’m sitting at Pheonix Sky Harbor Airport, about to Depart my annual spring training trip for home, a few observations from all over the place:

* It sucks going back.

* My bag is a lot heavier than when I arrived.  That may have to do with adding 24 baseballs to it’s contents.

* The world continues, though for seven days, I was able to forget about it for a while.

* A trip to the Grand Canyon is still awe inspiring.

* Arizona Diamondback fans have no knowledge about: their owner requesting Dodger players to NOT celebrate on the field and of the incident where Dodger fans were asked to remove Dodger clothing if they wanted to continue sitting behind home plate.  They are quick to mention that the Dodgers peed in their pool though.

* The D-Back/Dodger rivalry appears to be something that won’t go away real soon.

* The Dodgers have a lot of decisions to make that will be tough re: Chone Figgins, Dee Gordon, Clint Robinson, Seth Rosin, Brandon League, Alexander Guerrero, Turner and a few others.

* Eight starting pitchers might not be enough again this season too.

* Yasiel Puig is still incredibly accommodating with fans this year, but it appears that his demands exceed his time.  I feel for the kid, who simply can’t win when it comes to trying to please everybody.

* Meeting up with friends at Spring Training makes the whole experience much more enjoyable.

* The minor league fields continue to be the best kept secret at Camelback Ranch.  Watching the kids out there I find more enjoyable than watching the major leaguers in a game.

* As much as it is nice to eat out at some great restaurants, the whole thing gets old after a while and I long for a simple home cooked meal and my own bed at home.

* Forgetting to apply sunscreen on just one day can make the remainder of your vacation fairly miserable.

* As much as I love baseball, my wife continues to simply tolerate it, but that's OK.  Her tolerance and patience seems to expand as the years go by.

* It’s getting to the point that I loath TSA almost as much as Tony Jackson does.

* Bloggers such as Ron Cervenka and Eric Stephen have the inside scoop on just about everything at CBR.

* If you keep your eyes and ears open, you are bound to run into players at restaurants and hotels in the area.  I ran into at least five players and coaches at such locations during my seven days in AZ.

* Brian Wilson stills looks strange wearing blue.