I Could’ve Been a Bat Girl: Notes from Spring Training

Of course, how could I have been a bat girl?  There ARE no bat girls.  Bat people are boys.  We all know that.  Still.  I could pick up bats and keep the ump supplied with balls with the best of them.  Because I’ve been to spring training.  In fact, I’m at Brewers Spring Training in Phoenix, AZ as we speak.  And if there’s a better place to be, I sure don’t know where it is.

I’m not a maniacal baseball fan, nor a student of baseball.  However, I am married to an avid fan and attend a lot of games every year – we’re talking 25 or so not counting 3-4 spring training games.  Until very recently, watching baseball was a meditative experience for me.  But then something clicked – I think it was the day I got the metaphorical significance of Striking Out Looking – and I started to love baseball and baseball players alot.

Spring training is the loveliest thing in the world if you are any kind of a fan at all.  First of all, everything about it makes you feel new – new season, new players, new promises.  Makes everyone feel like they’re 25.  It’s also the most relaxed and mellow place on earth (except for the young guys coming up trying to impress the coaches).  There’s a road in Phoenix called Carefree Highway and, in my mind, it runs right to Maryvale where the Brewers Stadium is located.  Picture the program vendor who dumps his sack in the 8th inning to stand atop the dugout to lead the crowd in YMCA or the former MPS teacher, now beer vendor, who gives each section a grade on how well they echo his trademark yell.

Most of all, people are happy.  The players joke around and tease each other.  Prince Fielder has a big grin on his face – something you don’t see once regular season starts.  And everyone is kind and chatty and generous.  Uncharacteristically, I made a play to catch a promotional T-shirt, missed it, only to have the woman who did catch it give it to me.  Dang. 

Nothing real profound here.  Just Arizona in March with a bunch of young guys playing ball and having fun.  Hard to complain.