Arizona-3 Spring Training

I had always wanted to see a spring training baseball game and when I was near Phoenix I took advantage of the opportunity. Fifteen teams play in ten stadiums in the Cactus League.

Harvest Hosts is a program that allows campers to camp overnight at wineries, farms, breweries, and museums. I found a place called the Desert Mirage Alpaca Ranch outside of Phoenix that participates in Harvest Hosts. I spent two nights there, before and after my baseball game. Logan gave me a wonderful tour of the Alpaca Ranch. I asked many questions, and he was very knowledgeable about Alpaca biology. And of course, I took pictures. They had very soft fur!

I grew up in Los Angeles. I loved the Dodgers and attended many games. In 1962 the Dodgers were in a pennant race with the SF Giants. With an early October birthday, the only thing I wanted for my birthday was a World Series ticket. Alas, the season ended in a tie, and the Dodgers lost the playoffs to the Giants; I was crushed. In 1963 I again wanted a World Series ticket; the Dodgers won the pennant and I was able to go to Game 1 of the World Series with some family friends. Sandy Koufax pitched and struck out 15 batters, a World Series record. It was the highlight of my childhood. For years I carried the ticket stub in my wallet until it disintegrated.

In this era there was no PA system to orchestrate cheers by the fans; instead, fans led their own cheers, with the favorite in LA being the “Charge Fanfare” played by a trumpet. According to Wikipedia, the Charge Fanfare was written by a student at USC, and it was adopted by Dodger fans when the team moved to LA. “The fanfare consists of six notes followed by rooters shouting, Charge!”

Click below to play the Charge Fanfare: (You may need to increase the volume.)

I had a trumpet which I brought to the games, and when the Dodgers had men on base I would stand up and play, and people around would shout Charge! It was so much fun! This trumpet playing at Dodger games became part of family lore, as my sister posted in a chat with extended family members:
There might be fifteen teams having spring training games in the Phoenix area, but there was no doubt that I had to see a Dodgers game.

There was incredible energy at the stadium. The Dodgers had won the last World Series. Phoenix is close to LA, and there were a lot of loyal Dodger fans there. I was one of the few people there without a Dodger shirt. Most of the shirts were Ohtani or Betts or Kershaw. I talked to a guy from my generation with a Koufax no. 32 jersey and told him about seeing Koufax pitching in the 63 World Series. He liked the story.

I had a good seat with a clear view of home plate. Initially, I did not bring my camera because I assumed it would be prohibited. Then I saw I sign listing all of the prohibited items. The list included camera tripods, but did not include cameras. So I went back to my van and grabbed my camera, and I am glad I did. As the game went on, I got better at sports photography, and I captured the ball after being hit, Or the ball after a swing and a miss.