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Anyone headed to Spring Training? Spring Training Lodging? (Designated Spring Training travel thread)

TheHappyYoungster

By TheHappyYoungster,
in Milwaukee Brewers Talk

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411DoubleDown Prep Ball

411DoubleDown

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I'm going. I recently moved to L.A. but I rented a house in Glendale and a bunch of friends from Wisconsin are flying down for a week in mid march. I'm really looking forward to it, its my first trip. Any one have advice for things to do and places to go(outside of games). Do people tailgate?
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lukevan Draft Eligible

lukevan

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I'm seriously considering making the trip down for a weekend/few games. I have a few friends that live in the Phoenix area that I haven't seen in too long. There was a good thread last offseason (I believe in the off topic forum) that included lots of good spring training advice and experiences.
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Patrick425 ACL Brewers

Patrick425

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My family and I will be going for the 6th, and possibly last (at least for a while), year in a row. My son is in 4th grade and it's getting harder and harder for him to miss a full week of school (I realize that we could go during spring break this year, since it's in March, but I really hate crowds). With this horrible cold weather we are having, AZ has pretty much been on my mind 24/7 lateley.

 

So what is game day like? What can I expect? Is it similar to a regular season game with people tailgating or is it more relaxed? How early should I get to games? Is there time to watch extra bp and meet players before or after the games?

It's really not similar to a regular game at all. It's more relaxed, lot's of substitutions of course. Players taking wind sprints in the outfield during the game. Getting to the game early is a great thing to do during spring training. Never did it at other parks other than Maryvale. However, if you get to Maryvale early, you can wander over to the periphial diamonds and what guys go through different skill stations. Many of these guys you will not recognize and will not even have names on there backs, but you will also see some of the regulars there to if you get there early enough. The players will be walking right past you as they go from station to station. It's pretty cool. Especially if you have young kids that are into baseball and they can see how much work professional players go through to get ready for the season.

If you are an autograph hawk, the best place to be is down the right field line. There is a gated area that looks into where the players come out of the club house. They tend to gravitate towards kids and not the annoying adults who are there with albums of baseball cards (and are pretty much only there for that and not the game itself).

 

Hope that helps.

User in-game thread post in 1st inning of 3rd game of the 2022 season: "This team stinks"

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hawing MVP

hawing

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We attended three games at Maryvale last year. Each time we were able to walk up and buy good seats (it was a bit harder for a Saturday game vs. the Diamondbacks).

At the end of the first game we attended, the PA announcer said, "If this is your first spring training game, it's always this good!" He was right.

 

I'm not really into autograph seeking, but I did walk around one day and find myself peering into the bullpen, where maybe 10 feet away Derrick Turnbow was warming up - so close that I could hear the wooooosh of the ball as it flew past. That was...what did the kids used to say...hella cool.

Remember: the Brewers never panic like you do.
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JumpinMacFlash Draft Eligible

JumpinMacFlash

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My girlfriend and I and a couple of her friends are considering going to Arizona over spring break. They were all willing to go along with my idea of Spring Training. Now all that has to happen is all the planning and funding to work out. I'm probably in as a 'maybe' right now, but I should know for certain relatively soon. Any ideas on cheap lodging?
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ryne100 Draft Eligible

ryne100

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Booking my flight today for the week of the 23rd. Going to all the home games from the 23rd through the 25th, the probably going to the Cubs game on the 27th. My parents are paying for the plane, and 2 of my roomates have older siblings that we are staying with, so all my money is going towards baseball, golf, and booze. Not only do we not have to pay for hotels since we know people there, but one of the guys there works at a golf course and can get us on non peak times for cheap/free. Do we have to buy tickets beforehand at all? (I'm assuming for the Cub game we do) Any chance LaPorta sticks around until the last week?
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JonnyLungs College Ball

JonnyLungs

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I'm also in the planning stages of going out there. Maybe some of you all around here could help.

 

Right now I'm not quite sure where to stay. I've heard everything about the area where the park is and that there really isn't a whole lot there. My hope is to balance the baseball and night activities. Would it be smarter to get a hotel more near the park and cab it to wherever we go at night or get a place near where we go at night and cab it to the park. I also realize some of the games we go to might not be at Maryvale so that may be a consideration.

 

The other thing I am wondering about is what to do at night. Not sure if the college scene in Tempe is too much up my alley, but I also don't plan on going to upscale establishments to sip wine. Just a decent place I can get a good whiskey. Any good local beers in the area?

 

Also, perhaps an idea for this site is a Spring Training FAQ. Each year I know these topics come up and maybe if there was an easy resource put together by people that know what they are talking about it'd be very helpful.

 

Don't know if there is anybody around here with the knowledge and/or initiative to put such a thing together but I thought I'd at least bring it up.

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AZBrewCrew First Round Pick

AZBrewCrew

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I plan on going to quite a few of the games, but I also only live minutes from Peoria Sports Complex and about 15 min from Maryvale. For those of you looking for hotels, I would check into some of the hotels around the Cardinals Stadium in Glendale. There is a Hampton Inn, a Renaissance Inn and a couple other hotels in that area. It is located around the 101 and Glendale Ave. That area is about 10 minutes from the Peoria Sports Complex and about 5 from Maryvale. As far as nightlife goes, there is Westgate which has a few sports bars and is located next to the Cardinals Stadium. There is also a bunch of bars/clubs up around 83rd ave and Bell Rd which is right down the road from Peoria Sports Complex (where the Padres and Mariners play). Another place to check out is the Sandbar at 99th ave and Northern. If you want to know anything more just ask me!
Formerly AirShuttle6104
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Hammer First Round Pick

Hammer

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My parents went last year and will be going this year as well. They are retired and have the time/money...lucky oldsters! Patrick made a comment about the autographs usually going to the kids (rightfully so) but the older generation seems to get some love as well. TBow, Wise, Weeks, Hart and Cappy all signed my Dad's calendar down the right field line. Cappy was the last one to sign and asked if there was anyone else they would like to meet/get to sign. My mother, being a HUGE fan of Prince asked if he was ever available and Cappy said that he would try to get him out there for the next home game. Sure enough, he was out and looking for my parents. People can say all the nasty stuff they want about a lot of athletes but this Brewers team seems to have a lot of classy guys...
@BrewCrewCritic on Twitter "Racing Sausages" - "Huh?"
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AZBrewCrew First Round Pick

AZBrewCrew

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How bad is traffic? I rented a house in Glendale and I'll have to make lots of trips to the Phoenix airport to pick up friends coming from Wisconsin.

Where is the house in Glendale? Rush hour going into downtown is pretty much from 6am til a little after 9am and then anywhere between 230pm and 3pm til around 7 at night. Depending where you will be staying there are a few different ways to get to and from the airport and avoid a bulk of the traffic.

 

Formerly AirShuttle6104
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rickey24 College Ball

rickey24

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JonnyLungs wrote:

Also, perhaps an idea for this site is a Spring Training FAQ. Each year I know these topics come up and maybe if there was an easy resource put together by people that know what they are talking about it'd be very helpful.

 

Don't know if there is anybody around here with the knowledge and/or initiative to put such a thing together but I thought I'd at least bring it up.

While this is a little dated, you can still get a lot of info on ST from this site:

 

http://www.cactus-league.com/index.html

 

This site also has a lot of good info:

 

http://phoenix.about.com/od/springtrainingbaseball/tp/Cactus-League.htm

 

 

My wife and I are heading down again this year, counting down the days to get out of this brutal weather.

 

Rickey

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TheHappyYoungster College Ball

TheHappyYoungster

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Just bought my airline tickets from Milwaukee to Phoenix. Leaving Thursday, March 13th-returning March 18th.

We're staying in Tempe near the University at the Fiesta Resort and Conference Center.

 

The day we arrive, we're headed to the Pink Pony Steakhouse in Scottsdale (awesome food and place is covered with baseball memorabilia-always ballplayers dining in during spring training).

A stop at NYPD Pizza is also a must. The best pizza you'll find anywhere (google NYPD Pizza for locations near Scottsdale).

We'll be at the ballpark most mornings by 9am to watch the morning workout sessions. There are multiple training fields at Maryvale Park and watching the guys up close is quite relaxing. The ballplayers themselves are laid back and approachable. I met Reggie Jackson back in 2000 at the Peoria Sports Complex (even he was approachable).

We'll be partying at night around the ASU campus in Tempe, so, if any Brewers fans want to join us/meet up, just shoot me an e-mail @ happyyoungster@hotmail.com

 

GO BREWERS!

"Happy"

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SeriesFinale ACL Brewers

SeriesFinale

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Growing up in Florida, I went to ST games all the time and saw a lot of great stuff and not just on the diamond (like George Steinbrenner getting booed vociferously by seven or eight guys as he walked into his limo, or Michael Jordan drinking beers with his young White Sox teammates at my local watering hole).

 

This'll be my first Brewers' Spring Training though. It's finally reasonable and affordable now that I live on the far side of the Mississippi.

 

We're just flying down the morning of Saturday, March 8 and flying back the next evening. We'll be able catch two games...that early on there'll be a lot of scrubs getting most of the playing time, but I think we'll have a good time regardless.

 

No hotel yet but I usually wait on that...I can imagine they do great business down there that time of year though so I'll have to hurry it along.

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