Monday, May 30, 2011

Sounds Road Trip Number 3-Salt Lake City & Tacoma

One of the most enjoyable aspects of being a professional sportscaster is the time that I spend on the road. This provides me with the opportunity to enjoy exploring new cities as well as ballparks. I'm the type of guy who doesn't always like to hang around a hotel room. Life is more than just hotels and ballparks and being from a large city myself, I enjoy getting around to check out the streets of any city I visit for the first time (sometimes even the second time, etc.) and tour some of the best points of interests that I can find.


On the previous road trip, it was my first visit ever not only to Salt Lake City, but to the state of Utah. I can't say enough on how impressed I was with its cleanliness and the friendliness of the people. Everyone greeted me very warmly like you were a part of them. The first couple of days were unpleasant weatherwise because it was overcast and rainy. Fortunately, on the Saturday that I was in Utah, I got the chance to really explore downtown, especially in the Temple Square area. I was able to see one of the most famous churches in the Tabernacle. It looked like a castle from either Disneyland or Disney World. The gardens were well kept and saw some neat flowers and there was a large congregation inside the fences of the church. Everyone was well-dressed and were just outside waiting for the services to start. The carvings were very clear with the words being so legible on the outside walls. There was the Lion's house, where there were plenty of people doing gardening outside the building.



The streets of downtown Salt Lake City are so amazingly clean and every other block, I saw men riding around the cleaning machines with rollers and I can see why it's so immaculate. The people in Salt Lake City have pride in their city and want to preserve it as best as possible to make sure that visitors in town will give the city a rave review. They already got one from me. There is a TraxTrain that goes downtown and it reminds me of the ones I've seen in Memphis, New Orleans and Sacramento.



From the city streets, we move along to the ballpark. The mountains from beyond the outfield walls are breathtaking and you can't beat the snowcaps on top. I can imagine how cold it can really get with that altitude. Spring Mobile Park is a nice double-deck park and from the third base side, you can see a nice glimpse of the city's downtown with the mountains in the background. It's too bad that the Sounds go to Salt Lake once every other year since the Bees and the Sounds are in different conferences.

The Series with the Bees was a great one as the Sounds took 3 out of 4. George Kottaras, one of the Sounds' Catchers, caught fire as he hit his first home run of the season at Spring Mobile and kept spraying the ball to the gaps in the outfield. Kottaras was among the hottest Sounds as he collected six hits in the series!



Anyway, after the Salt Lake series, it was on to Tacoma, Washington, where we would play a four-game set against the Tacoma Rainiers, the Seattle Mariners' AAA affiliate. This is a perfect marriage for the Rainiers and the Mariners since the two teams are so close together and it is just a 20 to 25 minute drive from Seattle to Tacoma. The Tacoma Franchise has had many great players passing through such as Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Jesus Alou, Burt Hooton, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, etc. From 1960 to the present day, the Tacoma franchise has been the only team to play in the Pacific Coast League every season on. The franchise used to have the same nicknames as the major league teams until the Tacoma Tigers, who were a longtime affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. When the Mariners became the parent club, the nickname was changed to Rainiers, in honor of Mount Rainier which happens to be in the area.

The longtime minor league team in Seattle used to be nicknamed the Rainiers before that city became a major league town in 1969 when the Seattle Pilots played their only season there. Without their move to Milwaukee, you wouldn't have the Milwaukee Brewers, whose franchise was purchased by then young auto executive and dealership owner Bud Selig, who now reigns as the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Eight years after the Pilots played their only season in the Pacific Northwest, the Mariners came of being when they were an expansion team in 1977 and have been there since.

This trip was also my first trip to Cheney Stadium, which has been around since 1960. I can tell right away that the folks did such a marvelous remodeling job. It was freshly painted and instead of having the pressbox on the roof, it was on the second row and off to the third base side. The pressbox, visiting radio booth, the tv booth and the home radio booth, were in separate compartments and my booth was a little bit off the third base side, but right at home plate. I was told that in the past that you had to climb a stepladder to get to the pressbox during the pre-modeling days and the ladder would sway if it got windy. Fortunately, I didn't have to experience that. There were a collection of pine trees beyond the right field wall and from what Don Money told me, they lowered the height of the walls, so it wouldn't be as high as the batter's eye wall, which is approximately 20 feet! I do tip my cap to those who fixed the park up. It looks great!



One unique experience about the hotel where we stayed in downtown Tacoma, sort of reminded me of an art museum. It is the Hotel Murano and every floor you go on there are displays of different artwork and the name of the artist that created such masterpieces. We would walk into the lobby and continue to see many other artwork pieces as well. What was also unusual is that you had to use your room key and slide it into a card machine when you get on the elevator or you won't be able to get on your floor. If someone else uses his/her card, then you can be able to press the button in the elevator and get on your floor! As you go down Broadway Plaza, there are a few eateries, but not that many. The Varsity Grill is a great choice and their burgers are outstanding, especially the black and blue burger with its cajun and blue cheese dressing! The onion rings that come with it are great. I got to also see the NHL and NBA playoff games on the screen! I highly recommend it whenever you're in Tacoma!

Unfortunately, the Sounds lost 3 of 4 in the series, but did take the finale on a single by Eric Farris that broke a 2-2 tie! Since we are in Triple-A and the Pacific Coast League, it was a short night as I slept only 2 1/2 to 3 hours the night before we had to check out of our hotel at 4:30 in the morning. Such the life of travel in the PCL, but I didn't mind at all. I knew that we would be on a plane for a while and I can catch some shuteye, which I did. We flew into Chicago's Midway Airport and then we flew home. The only thing is that we had to play Oklahoma City that night and we couldn't feel too bad because the RedHawks were flying in from Fresno, California after they concluded their Californ1a portion of their road trip with Sacramento and Fresno. I didn't feel tired at all as the Sounds won, 3-1 on that Friday night and the broadcast went well. Normally, I would go home first to drop my luggage off and unpack and drop my laundry into my washer/dryer in my apartment. A nice perk to have since I don't have to find a coin-operated laundromat as well as leave to try to find such a place. I wash my clothes in the privacy of my own home! This time, I left my luggage bag in the trunk of my car and as soon as I got home the previous Friday night after starting the homestand, I loaded my clothes in the washer and cleaned them. I dried them the next morning and they are good as new! Even though we ended up at 4-4 on the last road trip, it was better than the previous one when we went 0-8 in Oklahoma City and Round Rock. So far, we've won our first 3 games vs. the RedHawks here at Greer Stadium and hope to complete a sweep of the series with a win tonight. I will have another blog on the Sounds-RedHawks series. Before I sign off, I want to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Holiday weekend! Hope you have fun, but above all, be safe! Also, please let's not forget the men and women who have sacrificed their lives and continue on to do so to keep this country and this world a safe haven to be in! Amen! Until next time, thanks for reading!

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