It's spring! (well, almost) And that means, baseball!

For the first time, the D-clan headed to the desert to see the Giants in action during Spring Training. In retrospect, I'm not sure why we haven't done this before. Arizona had perfect weather - not too hot yet ('cuz this Momma does NOT deal well with heat...) and cool in the evenings. We were there for a total of three nights and caught two games at Scottsdale Stadium, the Giants' home for Cactus League play.

When we got there, Gaylord Perry was signing autographs. Neither of us are into the whole autograph thing, so I just took a picture.


We were lucky enough to catch one of the games where the World Series trophy was visiting. Thankfully the line wasn't too long and we were able to get our picture taken before the game started. They took one with your own camera and an "official" one (which, since I am a sucker, I purchased as well.) Here is the one from my camera:


Here is Nick with the "official" picture. They're both pretty good, actually.


Rather than purchasing actual seats, we just bought general admission seats - turned out to be a great idea. We found a concrete block that was behind about a five foot swath of grass, which was behind the right field fence. The woman who we ended up sitting next to on said concrete block was kind enough to inform us that the ushers don't allow people to stand at the wall while the ball was in play. So the whole grass area was clear in front of us. And, in between innings, Nick could run around, play catch, etc. PERFECT!!


We were right next to the Giants bullpen. When we got our seats set up, we saw Buster Posey (2010 Rookie of the Year) warming up the starting pitcher for the day...


...Tim Lincecum (yay!!)


Our view of the field. The one bad thing about these seats is that you can't see deep center or part of left field. However, it wasn't so bad as since people couldn't stand in front of you, when the ball was hit out there, everyone just stands up, runs to the wall and looks to the right to catch the play. So I'm not really complaining. (Also a very quick walk to bathroom, food & drinks. And did you know they still sell beer in the stands, unlike AT&T Park?! And good beer too!!)


You could look right into the Giants bullpen. Here is Brian Wilson aka "Fear the Beard" hanging out. He actually pitched one inning this game - struck out the side.


Cody Ross "The Boss" playing right field.


This picture is from the night game we went to the next day. Nick desperately wanted a baseball. So, again - being the sucker that I am - we went to the store and I was "convinced" to purchase a ball, a Panda stuffed ball (he likes Kung Fu Panda, aka Pablo Sandoval) and a Giants Matchbox car. Yup, sucker. But seriously, look how happy!!!


We had SUCH a great time at the games. One of the security guards gave Nick one of the home run balls from batting practice - he was THRILLED. And, the icing - the Giants won both games. Without torture even. Can't wait for the season to start!!