High Skies, Part Two

Last week in this column, I spent a little time letting you know why a trip to Spring Training is such a great experience, and you indulged me while I reminisced a bit upon some of my experiences.

This week, I thought I’d share some more fun moments, and tell some tales about the players who made my past trips to sunny Arizona memorable.

• One of my old high school teammates once pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers. I attended a Brewers game one spring in the hopes of watching him throw, and maybe catching up with him after the game. I didn’t see him warming up before the game, however – and when I went to get a drink from the concession stand, I asked an elderly gentleman covered in Brewers garb if he had heard or read anything about my old teammate. He didn’t know, but a man behind me said, “He didn’t make the trip. He’s rehabbing his shoulder; working with the trainers. Why? You know him or something?”

  I turned around to thank him, and ran face-first into a stitched “BREWERS” logo – it was one of their players! The Brew Crew ran out of sunflower seeds in the bullpen, and so the veterans sent one of their young minor-league pitchers to go stand in line and get some more.

  He told me he’d tell my friend “hi”…

• At a Rockies game in 1997, I sat in the first row along the Colorado bullpen and was conversing with the bullpen catcher throughout the game. Later in the game, the catcher was warming up a young pitcher (whose name is omitted to protect the guilty). This pitcher had an outstanding arm, but his control made Nuke LaLoosh look like Greg Maddux. The pitcher took the mound in the next inning, and proceeded to throw the ball all over the place, walking the first two batters and plunking the third. I told the catcher: “It must be a nightmare catching him, but he can really bring it.”

  The catcher gave me a strange look, and I realized that when I opened my big mouth, I probably offended him – after all, this is probably one of his friends…

  Then he said, laughing, “Yeah. Great arm – but he has absolutely no idea where it’s going. I just make sure that I’m wearing my mask!”

• At that same game, I caught up with a Rockies farmhand that I had followed since his college days – former Golden Spikes winner Todd Helton. We talked for a while – he was delighted that someone actually recognized him, as most fans simply mob anyone with a uniform on asking for autographs and try to figure out who it was later. After the game ended, I wished him good luck and headed back to my car. On the way to the car, however, I got caught up in a crowd surrounding the Rockies’ bus.

  People were asking for autographs, and then asking around to find someone who knew who it was that signed their ball or program. As I was fighting through the crowd, a lady asked me if I knew who the player coming up the walk was. I said to her, “You’ll want his autograph. He’ll take over at for Galarraga at first next year.” As the “Big Cat” was extremely popular in Denver, the lady and a few people near me stared at me like I had two heads – but they asked for his autograph anyway. Helton looked over the group of fans approaching him and saw me sending more in his direction, saying, “That’s Todd Helton. He was College Player of the Year at Tennessee. You’ll want his signature.”

  Helton pointed at me, waved, and started laughing. Helton would receive a cup of coffee with the Rockies that fall, and take over at first base for Colorado for good the next April.

• Orel Hershisher pitched for the Giants in 1998, and after the game, he was signing autographs for fans. He had already showered and changed, and was wearing a very nice suit at the time. When the fans started getting a bit too close, Hershiser shouted, “Please – one at a time! I’ll be happy to sign for you, but keep the caps on those Sharpies – if I get ink on this jacket, my wife’ll kill me!”
• At a Cubs game in beautiful HoHoKam Park, some fans were asking then-Cubs pitcher Rod Beck for his autograph. One excited fan thanked Beck and let him know that he was his favorite player, and he had him on his fantasy baseball team for the previous season. Beck’s response: “Oh. Wow. Man, I’m really sorry about last year…”
• Tony Batista broke into the majors in 1996 with Oakland. I went to a game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium to catch them, and after Batista left the game, he ran by my box. I asked him if he wouldn’t mind signing a ball for me, as I had been following the highly-touted prospect’s career in the minors. Batista’s English apparently wasn’t that good at the time, and he gestured that he needed to run a few laps in the outfield (For those of you who’ve never been – players usually run a few laps in the outfield after they’re done playing – even though the game’s still on!). I nodded and quickly forgot about it, figuring I had just received a polite brush-off. An inning later, though, I had a strange feeling that I was being watched. I snapped my head to the right, towards the outfield, and standing there was Batista. He smiled and held out his hand, asking for the ball. I have no idea how long he waited for me to notice him. He signed the ball, and shook my hand when he returned it. Then he nodded politely, and waved as he jogged back to the clubhouse. I always root for Tony Batista.
• In 1999, I visited Arizona with my brother-in-law and his family. We attended a Rockies game in Scottsdale. Since Scottsdale Stadium is the home of the Giants, Rockies fans were few and far between. As a result, the Rockies players were chatting it up with the few Rockies faithful in the stands before the game. Outfielder Dante Bichette (who was one the Rockies’ greatest sluggers, but was not known for his prowess with the glove) was signing a few autographs for fans, and my brother-in-law went up to meet Bichette with his wife and baby daughter. They asked Bichette if he wouldn’t mind taking a picture with their baby. Bichette coyly smiled and said, “Of course! Are you sure, though? Did you see me try to hold on to anything out here last year?”
  Bichette held the baby (with no bobbles!) for the picture, and even though it was the last year he spent in a Colorado uniform, he provided a lasting memory that a few people from Colorado will remember for a lifetime - and for one little baby girl that will never remember it even happened – save for an old photograph taken on a bright sunny day when the skies were high.