Goodbye from Tucson - 3/20/09
by Andrew T. Fisher on Mar 20, 2009 7:06 PM MDT
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PrintToday was the last time we will see Hi Corbett Field this year. With the high probability of the Rockies moving (the latest possibility being t Hohokam Park in Mesa), it may be the last time we see a Rockies game at the historic park.
Other than Ian Stewart fulfilling Rox Girl's prophecy, the Rockies gave us a rude goodbye. Jason Marquis, Manny Corpas, Juan Morillo and Jason Grilli were all lt up. Only Huston Street pitched a clean inning (a renewed closer battle?), while we had to suffer through former Purp Pedro Strop sending the Rockies down in order. And on top of all that, Brad Hawpe left with an early leg injury.
Earlier this week, I reported that the Jason Marquis pitched better than his line indicated. Today was certainly not the case. He was hit consistently hard and often. The outs he recorded were loud line drives or hard hit grounders. He pitched much worse than 6 runs in 5 innings.
And now some last photos from Tucson. We will visit Matt Holliday as his new team faces Seattle tomorrow and be on our way back to Colorado. We hope you've enjoyed the photos.
Maybe Jason Hirsh took his demotion too seriously. I just noticed this shop the day after he was sent to minor league camp, less than a mile from Hi Corbett Field.
Rich Dauer really appears to be a players' coach. After the pitchers took BP, he entertained the staff by turning the pitching machine on high and flinging pitches in the high 90's towards the cage.
The poorest hitters from the morning were relegated to running. Not surprisingly, Jhoulys Chacin and Ubaldo Jimenez were two of them. Here they are readying their running gear.
Ryan Speier, Greg Smith and Jorge de la Rosa joined Ubaldo and Jhoulys for their run. Apparently, the idea of running in the heat makes Jhoulys' stomach turn.
Former first-round pick Chris Nelson takes his at-bat on the minor league field. He would ground into a double play on the pitch.
Eat. Drink. Be Merry. But the above FanPost does not necessarily reflect the attitudes, opinions, or views of Purple Row's staff (unless, of course, it's written by the staff [and even then, it still might not]).
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I'm glad you had a good time.
Thanks for the updates since I left. Next year mine will be more like this (I hope) or I will be down there with you guys. Just under 17 days until the real thing starts. Let’s play ball!!!
"A great catch is like watching girls go by; the last one you see is always the prettiest." ~Bob Gibson
JFK
Unfortunately I graduate in 8 weeks
So I won’t exactly have a “spring break.” We’ll see what vacation my hopefully-soon-to-be-attained job gives me.
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Mar 20, 2009 11:28 PM MDT up reply actions
Congrats on graduating
and good luck with the job. Spring Break next year for me is March 15-19 as a heads up to other “scholarly” Rowbots.
"A great catch is like watching girls go by; the last one you see is always the prettiest." ~Bob Gibson
JFK
St. Patty's Day during break
That’s the way it should be.
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Mar 20, 2009 11:35 PM MDT up reply actions
(the latest possibility being t Hohokam Park in Mesa)
I have never visited Hi Corbett, so I can’t speak to it. However, moving to Mesa (or at least closer to Phoenix) would be something I am in favor of. It’s just so much easier to draw fans from Phoenix than it is from Mesa.
I admit I may be rather biased, because my grandparents are snowbirds and go to Mesa for six months of the year. Whenever I visit them over Spring Break, we always go to a Cubs game at HoHoKam because they are the closest stadium. I’d love for that to turn into seeing the Rockies instead of the Cubbies…I may look forward to taking trips down there :) .
Very cool pics, thanks for posting them :) .
I was at
HoHoKam today to watch Everth Cabrera and the Padres lose 5-3 to the Cubs. I’ll point out that Ringolsby only mentioned Mesa as the possible destination, and not HoHoKam. Mesa would be a good location for the Rockies and the Diamondbacks, but I’m not wild about HoHoKam. The parking is terrible, the burm has bad sight lines and there’s way too many Cubs fans around. I guess that last one wouldn’t be a problem if the Cubs bail to Florida. No joke, today I heard a “right field sucks” chant coming from the left field burm.
I wasn’t exactly keeping score, but Everth hit a meaningless triple late in the game.
Aut Vincam Aut Periam
by PioneerSkies on Mar 20, 2009 10:57 PM MDT up reply actions
I suppose Ringolsby didn't explicitly state Hohokam
But given that his suggestion of moving to Mesa followed immediately after a story of the Cubs bailing on the relatively new facility (1997), I think connecting the dots is fairly safe. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t leave Hohokam vacant while they request that Mesa builds a new park….
Cubs fans were by far the worst in my last two years at ST. It made the experience subpar overall, but I liked the park in general. It doesn’t have the charm of Hi Corbett (but no park would if they move). My only reservation would be sharing a facility with a divison rival.
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Mar 20, 2009 11:26 PM MDT up reply actions
My only reservation would be sharing a facility with a divison rival
At this point, I’m up to trying anything to win a season series against the Snakes. Only winning one of the past four rubs me the wrong way.
To me
This whole issue reminds me of the recent Colorado bill in legislature regarding alcohol in supermarkets. The current system may not be the most advantageous given the big picture, but changing the current system would directly hurt a small fraction of people, so it feels opposition. I can’t tell you how many Tucson locals I met this week that expressed great concern over the Rockies and D-Backs moving to the Phoenix metro area.
Whereas the alcohol bill was turned down, I think the Rockies are more apt to choose a course of action more suitable for the franchise, disregarding the wishes of Tucson locals.
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Mar 20, 2009 11:34 PM MDT up reply actions
And people complain
about the Drive in Arizona 
I feel sorry for some of these fans and teams who have to drive long distances to get to games.
"A great catch is like watching girls go by; the last one you see is always the prettiest." ~Bob Gibson
JFK
Ummmm.
If the Cubs move to Florida, I doubt there would be too many Cubs fans.
:)
Andrew just went crazy laughing at that.
It wasn’t exactly a Camleback, but it’s still much better than Hi Corbett. At least everyone in the park knows what a home run is (unlike the retarded outfield wall).
Big League Stew has more about what's going on with the Cubs
And he suggests that them bailing the Cactus League would be devastating for ST in AZ. I doubt it, most of the teams down there are Western based now, and proximity to their homebase is a strong allure for them, and the for the other two major Midwest teams, the brand new facilities for the Indians and White Sox are primo, there’s not much reason to suspect they’ll bail anytime soon. I guess the Brewers might follow the Cubs, but that would be about it. Still, there’s no doubt that the Cubs draw the biggest crowds down there and therefore have more clout politically, I’d be shocked if Mesa and AZ didn’t capitulate to their wishes.
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