Who is attending Spring Training?

[Underachiever]

I am planning a trip to Arizona during Spring Training. I spent a week last year and had a blast. Can't wait to do it again. I saw 5 games in four different parks, including a WBC game between Mexico and Colombia. The friend who shared the trip with me last year just canceled due to a work issue. I am still going, even if it is by myself. 

Does anyone have any "can't miss" things to do? What is your favorite park? What is the best complex to hang out in? 

I get so damn excited for the start of baseball season. 

[RobertCrawley]

We went last year but sadly not this year. I hope the weather is great for you!

[nate82]

Expensive but the Innings festival and the extra innings festival are fun.  I think Yount was there last year.  

https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/11/07/innings-festival-2024-lineup/71487727007/#:~:text=Innings Festival 2024 returns with,performance by Jimmy Eat World.

I like the Dbacks park the best.

[JollyCharlie]

March 10th-Brewers vs Rockies @Salt River Scottsdale-looking forward to it.

[wibadgers23]

Heading down early March and watching two games, one road game in Scottsdale against the Giants and one at home against the Guardians. Cannot wait!

[Sixtolezcano]

12 hours ago, nate82 said:

Expensive but the Innings festival and the extra innings festival are fun.  I think Yount was there last year.  

https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/11/07/innings-festival-2024-lineup/71487727007/#:~:text=Innings Festival 2024 returns with,performance by Jimmy Eat World.

I like the Dbacks park the best.

Rollie Fingers and Ryan Braun will attend this spring, along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Mathews, Chris Stapleton, Sheryl Crow, Gin Blossoms among others.

[AZ Brewer]

I am. But of course, I live in the Phx area. 

[Playing Catch]

My wife and I were visiting Sedona and the Grand Canyon a few years back. We didn't have tickets, so we were planning to buy at the gate. But some guy heard me talking positively about Mark Attansio's ownership with my wife (I know Bruised will be shocked to hear that), and he asked us if we needed tickets. He was like, "just play it cool and come through the gate with me."

We did. Two seats in the owners box right next to the dugout. It was a blast. Just a great add-on activity to any Spring Break trip to AZ.

It's only a matter of time before we do that again.

[owbc]

We've been alternating years recently...not going this year. 

Scottsdale seems to have the most stuff going on, good dining options along with a pretty robust nightlife if you're into that kind of thing. Also lots of nice hotels in that area and some hiking options. Now that I have a kid we go to one of the hotels that has a nice pool which keeps her happy. The botanical garden and zoo are pretty good. 

I agree that Salt River is the nicest of the ones that I've been to -- spacious but still intimate. Nothing to do around the complex unless Medieval Times is your idea of fun haha. The Brewers are so lucky to have Maryvale which is an awesome facility and centrally located...not an area with hotels but if you're not afraid to put on your gringo tourist hat and walk into some Spanish speaking places you can have a good time after the game around there. We found a paletas place last time which was perfect for a postgame snack. 

Sloan was basically a giant zoo of Cubs fans, there were like 15,000 in attendance for the Brewers/Cubs game that I was at. I probably wouldn't go back there, it was too crowded and didn't feel like a spring training atmosphere. 

The Mariners/Padres facility is my least favorite, it's outdated and way off on the west side. However, it does have a Portillos and a Culvers nearby, which is a big plus for those of us that do not have such luxuries near our current residence. 

I know there are differing opinions about Phoenix...for me it ranks near the bottom of US cities that I've been to. It has sunshine and baseball in the spring and it's easy+cheap to fly to. Everything is too sprawled out and you end up spending half the trip driving around avoiding the other maniac drivers and wondering who thought it was a good idea to build such a place in the middle of the desert. But just writing this still makes me want to scratch my baseball itch and not wait until Opening Day. 

[Underachiever]

39 minutes ago, owbc said:

The Mariners/Padres facility is my least favorite, it's outdated and way off on the west side. However, it does have a Portillos and a Culvers nearby, which is a big plus for those of us that do not have such luxuries near our current residence. 

 

Is it more remote than the Reds/Indians? I felt like I was driving forever to get to that place from Tempe last year.

[owbc]

8 minutes ago, Underachiever said:

Is it more remote than the Reds/Indians? I felt like I was driving forever to get to that place from Tempe last year.

I think that one is a similar distance but I haven't been there. The Rangers/Royals one is even farther away. I seem to remember that getting there is fine but it's annoying to hit rush hour traffic on the return, especially if you are trying to make a dinner reservation. 

 

 

[AZ Brewer]

1 hour ago, owbc said:

I think that one is a similar distance but I haven't been there. The Rangers/Royals one is even farther away. I seem to remember that getting there is fine but it's annoying to hit rush hour traffic on the return, especially if you are trying to make a dinner reservation. 

 

 

Reds / Indians is definitely the most remote. 

As OWBC said, the Royals / Rangers is farther out than the Padres / Mariners (Peoria Sports Complex). At least Peoria has a ton of restaurants within walking distance of the stadium. That's not the case for the other two I just mentioned. 

[AZ Brewer]

2 hours ago, owbc said:

We've been alternating years recently...not going this year. 

Scottsdale seems to have the most stuff going on, good dining options along with a pretty robust nightlife if you're into that kind of thing. Also lots of nice hotels in that area and some hiking options. Now that I have a kid we go to one of the hotels that has a nice pool which keeps her happy. The botanical garden and zoo are pretty good. 

I agree that Salt River is the nicest of the ones that I've been to -- spacious but still intimate. Nothing to do around the complex unless Medieval Times is your idea of fun haha. The Brewers are so lucky to have Maryvale which is an awesome facility and centrally located...not an area with hotels but if you're not afraid to put on your gringo tourist hat and walk into some Spanish speaking places you can have a good time after the game around there. We found a paletas place last time which was perfect for a postgame snack. 

Sloan was basically a giant zoo of Cubs fans, there were like 15,000 in attendance for the Brewers/Cubs game that I was at. I probably wouldn't go back there, it was too crowded and didn't feel like a spring training atmosphere. 

The Mariners/Padres facility is my least favorite, it's outdated and way off on the west side. However, it does have a Portillos and a Culvers nearby, which is a big plus for those of us that do not have such luxuries near our current residence. 

I know there are differing opinions about Phoenix...for me it ranks near the bottom of US cities that I've been to. It has sunshine and baseball in the spring and it's easy+cheap to fly to. Everything is too sprawled out and you end up spending half the trip driving around avoiding the other maniac drivers and wondering who thought it was a good idea to build such a place in the middle of the desert. But just writing this still makes me want to scratch my baseball itch and not wait until Opening Day. 

As a native of Phoenix.....let me just say....I totally agree with your comments about Phoenix. 

[TURBO]

4 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

My wife and I were visiting Sedona and the Grand Canyon a few years back. We didn't have tickets, so we were planning to buy at the gate. But some guy heard me talking positively about Mark Attansio's ownership with my wife (I know Bruised will be shocked to hear that), and he asked us if we needed tickets. He was like, "just play it cool and come through the gate with me."

We did. Two seats in the owners box right next to the dugout. It was a blast. Just a great add-on activity to any Spring Break trip to AZ.

It's only a matter of time before we do that again.

Cool!

My wife and I did the same thing.  We visited the Grand Canyon, Sedona, etc, and caught just one game at Maryville.  It was a blast!  We didn't get the free seats in the owner's box though.  lol

This was in 2022.  Planning a full week trip next year with a couple of buddies.

[TURBO]

Also, we were told to not be wandering around Maryville under any circumstance after dark.  Were told to just head out after the game.  Is this still true?  I know in the past, it was a pretty bad place for tourists, just wondering if it has improved in recent years?

[nate82]

23 minutes ago, TURBO said:

Also, we were told to not be wandering around Maryville under any circumstance after dark.  Were told to just head out after the game.  Is this still true?  I know in the past, it was a pretty bad place for tourists, just wondering if it has improved in recent years?

LOL is rain wet?

[AZ Brewer]

46 minutes ago, TURBO said:

Also, we were told to not be wandering around Maryville under any circumstance after dark.  Were told to just head out after the game.  Is this still true?  I know in the past, it was a pretty bad place for tourists, just wondering if it has improved in recent years?

Yes, this is still true. 

[owbc]

44 minutes ago, TURBO said:

Also, we were told to not be wandering around Maryville under any circumstance after dark.  Were told to just head out after the game.  Is this still true?  I know in the past, it was a pretty bad place for tourists, just wondering if it has improved in recent years?

There are some strip mall taquerias around there and my wife got a cheap mani pedi after a baseball game once. Good paletas also like I mentioned above. Some people enjoy venturing around a Spanish-speaking area like that. I probably wouldn't hang out around there after midnight but it didn't seem that bad. 

[nate82]

1 hour ago, owbc said:

I probably wouldn't hang out around there after midnight but it didn't seem that bad. 

Majority of people in the Phoenix area know that Maryvale is not a safe area.  Your skin color or if you speak Spanish or not doesn’t really matter.  You can hear and talk in Spanish just about everywhere in Phoenix.  Nearly every single neighborhood is Spanish speaking even the suburbs.

If you live here long enough you know that Maryvale is not a safe area once the sun goes down.  A lot of drugs and drug use in that area.  Plenty of gang crimes and plenty of shootings.  It is not Chiraq but it is also not safe to be out there late at night.

There are only a few other areas I wouldn’t want to be in Phoenix compared to Maryvale.  

[MrTPlush]

Honestly, dangerous or not…there isn’t any reason to be there after dark.

It’s much like AmFam…why would you be near the stadium after dark…no point.

[pitchleague]

I’m pretty sure that there’s a better than average chance that I drive down the three hours to take in a game or two.  Bonus is that I am “scheduled” to appear in Phoenix for federal jury duty in March (I’m on call for the whole month—ugh!) so that might help me get to a couple more games, as well.

 

[Pugger]

This is the time of year when I wish the Brewers had spring training in FL...