Saturday, March 4 2000

Good morning and welcome to Day 1 of the 7th Annual Spring Training Trek 2000!

Good morning, and welcome to Spring Training Trek 2K. This is my 7th annual Spring Training Trek, and despite ever attempt to the contrary, it started out like all my others. I was late leaving work Friday, had to do laundry Friday night, did not finish packing until 3am, did my taxes until 4am, caught a couple hours of shut-eye before getting up at 6am for an 8:30am flight, which was delayed by half and hour.

To their credit, however, Delta Flight 761 to Tampa, FL was uneventful.

The captain was kind, the stewardesses were courteous, and a few minutes after debarking the plane my right ear popped, which thankfully matched my left ear which for some reason had never pressurized going up. The one thing you are most thankful for second to landing on the ground is being able to hear out of both ears.

At 10:30am, both of my bags pop out of the baggage claim carousel, which is always a good sign, and it was a breeze picking up the rental car from National Car Rental, prepaid. Those Disney people think of everything. When I get good service, I try to point that out. When I get bad service, I point that out too. And while National was efficient in giving me my Toyota Corolla (white) with less than 4000 miles, I must point out that it was dirty, the parking break was not engaged in the lot, and when the car turned over, the windshield wipers started wiping.

So cruising down I-275 to St. Petersburg to Al Lang Field, spring training home of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, whom in approximately 2 hours the Braves will engage in the second game of this year 2000 Grapefruit League season. The steering is a little loose, the rear view mirror is not wide enough, but the air conditioning works and that is a good thing on a hot Florida afternoon.

Now unless you have never left home before, you have experienced that moment of panic when you have reached the point after which you can not turn back and you realize what you forgot. In my case, it was my sunglasses.

The Devil Rays spring training facility is unique in that it is down the street from Tropicana Field. The former home of the St. Louis Cardinals sits on the shore of Tampa Bay at Florida Power Park. Tropicana Field, by the way, looks like a huge water reservoir that is sinking into quicksand on one end.

Al Lang Field is a traditional concrete clamshell ballpark like most training facilities in Florida. Seating 6000, it is an intimate park with reserved seats at the bottom and bleacher seats in the upper level. After a quick change out of my jeans and into shorts in the back seat of the car, I entered the ballpark about noon in time to watch the Braves finish batting practice.

The Braves projected payroll for the 2000 season is $83m, third behind the Yankees ($94m) and the Dodgers ($89m). The Yankees expect to be in the World Series next October. The Dodgers would like to just show up on radar.

The starting line-up for the Braves this afternoon is #4, Quilvio Veras at 2nd, #16, Reggie Sanders in left, #25, Andruw Jones at Center, #8 Javy Lopez behind the plate, #33, Bobby Bonilla as the DH, #15, Randall Simon at 1st, #27, Trenidad Hubbard in right, #32, Tim Unroe at 3rd, and #22, Walt Weiss at short. Greg Maddux is the starting pitcher, expected to go 2 innings.

In the 1st, Veras grounds into 2nd, Sanders singles to shallow left and is subsequently caught stealing. Jones strikes out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the inning, the Devil Rays get a hit but Maddux gets a pop-up to end the inning. In the 2nd, Lopez draws a walk and Bobby Bonilla sends a checked swing grounder back to the pitcher whose throw to 2nd gets away. Runners safe on 1st and 3rd with no outs. Randall Simon grounds to 1st for a run-scoring double play. Hubbard doubled to the center field wall, and Unroe draws a full count walk for Walt Weiss. Weiss grounds to 2nd to end the inning.

Maddux gets through the bottom of the 2nd, and Veras leads off the 3rd with a ground to 1st. Sanders takes strike three swinging, and Andrew Jones gets a 2 out single, but Lopez strikes out to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, #66 Richard Dishman takes the mound for the Braves and gives up a lead-off walk and a stolen base. #65, Fernando Lunar takes over for Lopez. A pop-up to center, ground to 2nd, and a strike-out gets Dishman out of a jam.

The Braves go 1-2-3 in the top of the 4th, and in the bottom of the inning, Dishman gets a strike-out, gives up a walk, then a 2 run homer giving the Devil rays a 2-1 lead. With 2 outs, Dishman is replaced by

#38 Jason Marquis. A ground to 2nd and a quick turn by Veras ends the inning.

In the top of the 5th, the Braves again go in order. In the bottom of the inning, #78 Rafael Furcal comes in at short and #67 Marcus Giles at 2nd with #18 Wes Helms at 3rd. Nothing doing for the Devil Rays in the bottom of the 5th.

In the top of the 7th, Sanders grounds to short followed by a fly to center by Jones and a fly to left by Lunar. In the bottom of the inning, Marquis gives up a solo home run over the center field wall to give the Devil Rays a 3-1 lead. He gets out of the inning with no further damage, however.

Today's food report. A foot long hot dog (with a 9 inch dried bun), a bag of chips, and a $5 bear, Budweiser. There ought to be a law.

Bonilla leads off the 7th and lines to 1st. Simon and Hubbard ground to 2nd, and the Braves are running out of time. Brian Hunter takes over at 1st in the bottom of the inning, #26 George Lombard in right, and #36 Rafael Medina becomes the new Braves hurler. Medina gives up a run on a hit, and the Braves are down 4-1. Lombard picks off the base runner at 1st from right field, but Furcal boots a grounder giving up 2nd base on the error. Jones catches a pop fly behind 2nd base, and Lunar picks off a stolen base attempt to end the inning.

Wes Helms leads off the top of the 8th by grounding to short. Furcal grounds to 2nd but beats the throw for an infield hit. A balk moves him to 2nd. Marcus Giles strikes out and #20 Freddy Garcia lines a double into center, scoring Furcal and the Braves cut the lead to 4-2. #57 Junior Brignac grounds to 1st to end the inning. Medina pitches the bottom of the inning giving up a pair of hits, but a double play and a strikeout gets him out of the inning.

Top of the 9th, Lunar pops up to deep center, Bonilla grounds to 2nd, and Hunter strikes out to end the game. The finals are Devil Rays 4 runs, 10 hits, 2 errors; Braves 2 runs, 5 hits, 1 error.

The drive from St. Pete to Disney is uneventful, taking about 2 hours.

I arrived at the Caribbean Beach Resort about 6pm, and 7pm caught the bus to the Magic Kingdom, where I took a monorail to the Contemporary Resort for an 8pm reservation at the Contemporary Steak House. The Contemporary is one of the original resorts at Disney World, where my parents once stayed when they first took me to the Magic Kingdom. This meal was a treat from me to me, and a tip to nostalgia.

Dinner consisted of a File Mignon stuffed with mushrooms with mashed garlic potatoes in a red wine butter sauce. Along with the spinach salad, margarita, and glass of wine (and tip), this little lesson in self indulgence totaled $50. There goes my food budget for the week.

The monorail takes me to Epcot where I catch a bus back to base camp. A walk through the Caribbean Beach Resort ends my day on a peaceful note.

Tomorrow the Braves are at home against the same Devil Rays at Disney's Wide World of Sports. If you have read this far, then you absolutely have to stick around to see what happens next. Forget the Real World, this is Disney World!

Fuskie