Spring Training, Day 3

It had the makings of a glorious day as we arose Saturday morning. I had my doubts about this particular hotel when we arrived, but it turned out to be quiet and comfortable and I had gotten a very good night's sleep. I met up with ed and Becky and we headed over to the nearby Perkins to grab some breakfast and map out our day. On the docket for today: Pirates vs. Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. It was a short trip to the ballpark from our hotel and we stopped at the ballpark to pick up our tickets and try to score another for Becky. We were able to trade our original tickets for 3 together right along the wall behind 3rd base. Afterwards, we had a few hours to kill before the gates opened, so we headed over to the nearest Starbucks to grab a little caffeine. After some coffee and conversation, we headed back over to the ball park. Ed Smith Stadium was what I pictured a Florida spring training facility. It was obviously an older stadium with none of the amenities that we saw over in Tampa or Clearwater. But it was surrounded by palm trees and other tropical foliage, very picturesque. as we found our way to our seats, we chatted with the security guy and found out that a total renovation was scheduled as soon as the spring training schedule was over. He assured us that it would look completely different next year if we decided to come back. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I thoroughly enjoyed the the intimate setting. Even the warning track was very Florida-like. I t was made up of sand and crushed seashells, totally different than the crushed red brick that I'm used to. The sun was shining brightly and it was warming up quickly as game time approached. The Pirates players came onto the field and their warm up area was directly in front of us, so we got a good look at most of what would be their opening day lineup. Garrett Jones came over and signed some autographs for a couple of women sitting beside us, who coincidentally turned out to be from the Harrisburg area. Imagine that, coming the whole way to Sarasota Florida and sitting beside people from the same town as you. Weird. After the pregame parade of the youth baseball teams, the game got under way. Early on, it looked like it was going to be a low-scoring pitcher's duel, not many hits, and the innings turning over quickly. It went back and forth until the 5th inning, when the regulars exited and the guys battling for the last few roster spots came in. The Pirates pitching started to bend a little and the O's took advantage, eventually posting a 5-3 win. As we made our way to the car, we vowed to make a return trip next if the good Lord willed and the finances cooperated. All in all, a very enjoyable junket for our first trip to Spring Training. The only thing left was a stop to visit with Ed's mom and sister for dinner and then head back to Tampa for the night. We'll be heading back north to Baltimore and reality on Sunday, but with a lot of great memories.