Arizona here we come!

I've been a big baseball fan since my brother took me to my first Reds game in 1970.  The Reds had, regrettably on retrospect, closed cozy Crosley Field and moved into the cookie-cutter style of sports architecture known as Riverfront Stadium.  

Nonetheless, I got to see the development of what was to become the Big Red Machine, suffering through a few early 70's stumbles in the World Series and playoffs.  But they got it right in 1975 and, again, in 1976 with a team loaded with stars.

Seeing them in spring training has always been a desire of mine, so Cheryl and I are acting on that with a week in Goodyear, Arizona.  They share a stadium with the Cleveland Guardians, and we'll see 3 games in 5 days. We catch the Reds in yet another rebuilding year, but plenty of young talent.  Playing .500 baseball this year isn't unrealistic (is it?).  

While we're there, we also get to visit my cousin Marian Mahfood Jensen who's lived in Arizona since graduating from OSU in 1979 (same year as me). Just for good measure, we're also seeing my college buddy from our rad tech program, Jeff Kirk and his wife Debbie.  I last saw Marian and husband Mark in 1998, and haven't seen Jeff Kirk since we graduated in 1979.  I'm really looking forward to this part of our vacation.

Perhaps we close with a chorus of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", as my next blog will be about our first day, Monday, March 20, at the park to see the Reds vs. the Los Angeles Angels.  Let's go Reds!


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Comments

  1. MarianMarch 19, 2023 at 10:36 AM

    We've been waiting for another visit since 1998. Get here fast!

    ReplyDelete

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