Mesa Cubs

Watched the Cubs play the White Sox from Mesa today on WGN. I used to live less than 5 minutes from the Cubs Mesa training facility and park. I do miss Mesa. It was a nice place to live and a great place to raise a family. Small town Florida has it charms and all... but Mesa sure was nice.

Never was a fan of the Cubs spring training park though. I went to several games because it was so close, but I was never thrilled with the facilities and the prices were way-way too high. We're talking about a spring game here and not a regular season contest that actually counts. More times than not I'd make a drive to another park. The Brewers park in Maryvale was much nicer and tickets were cheap... I believe the most expensive seat was $11 (and during the week the place was usually pretty empty and you could sit more or less where you wanted).

Turns out it works much the same way here in Florida. Looked into going to a Braves game this weekend. The cheapest seat is $18... and by "seat" I mean sitting your ass on the lawn. Not even the "good" lawn either. The "good" lawn where you can actually see the game is $22. Want to sit near the bases, say in the *upper-deck*... and you're talking $30+. Throw in the parking and it's $100 to take my wife and son to a game. Ridiculous.

So I looked into going to a Pirates game. As long as there is an NL team on the field, I'm cool. The lowly Pirates charge extra to see certain teams... Phillies, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, Rays. For the other teams though, you can get a decent seat for around $18. The grandstand is $11. So a lot better than the Braves.

Still... TV is free and there are no lines.

The Cubs got whipped btw... 15-3. Carlos Silva looked like a continuing disaster. The Cub announcers blamed it on Arizona, where "the ball travels." Uh, yea. Guess the ball travels in Seattle too.

That said... it's 50/50 I end up with Carlos Silva, especially if he indeed wins (is given) a spot in the rotation. Throw $1 at him and you ~can't~ be disappointed. If/when he sucks... hey, he's CAROLS SILVA and I only paid a buck for him. If he is halfway decent... 9 wins and 5.00era... and it's a nice pick.

There is a reason I never have a good pitching staff, btw... lol

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Still have some openings in the Mostly Lazy Boys. First time in several years we've had more than one. Just click on the pages to the right ("The Rules" and "Available Teams) for more info.