This past weekend, multiple locations hosted events for fans to join and see their teams get some batting practice in. As the spring training games kick off in a few days the excitement continues to build. With new stadiums and new teams, as well a returning team, Arizona prepares to kick off spring training games in less than three days from now. Arizona welcomes our out of town guests as MLB gets ready to start Spring Training 2009.

In Goodyear, the fans were plenty. The day began with a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the new ballpark in Goodyear. Upon arrival at the ballpark, the lots we filling up and there were plenty of fans at the event. The ballpark is also ready for the Cincinnati Reds to arrive in 2010. We noticed that they already have the signage up for the team which we thought was kind of nice. The new stadium is very well laid out and has accommodations for well over 10,000 fans. We watched the Indians batting practice for a while before making our way back south to the Peoria Sports Complex. Upon departure, the fans kept rolling in.

In Peoria, the San Diego Padres were wrapping up their batting practice as the Seattle Mariners took the field. Since Ichiro Suzuki is presently in Japan, we did not get the opportunity to see him, nor did we see Ken Griffey Jr. this weekend. There is no doubt that there will plenty of opportunity to see the newest addition to the Mariners as Cactus League progresses. While intimately familiar with the park, due to our Fall League game coverage, we noticed some additional areas in right field that have been set up for a lounge type area for Spring Training. There were baseball clinics and events for kids as well as a team shop, as all locations do, that were accessible to the general public.

Sunday, our trek took us back to Bell Road, only in the other direction, to the City of Surprise, were the Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals were taking batting practice. In its seventh year of existence this fan fest had tons to do as well, as there was sports memorabilia, kid’s games, face painting and even clowns. We also had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Royals legendary Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett.

In all, we had a great time running around catching all of the events and the players seemed to be enjoying themselves as well. There was not a smile missing from anyone’s faces, from the staff at the stadiums to the fans and the players. When asked about the number of balls he tossed to the kids, Mike Morse of the Seattle Mariners, “I had to. We appreciate you guys”.

…And we appreciate you too Mike.