Made my first trip to Spring Training with my wife and two boys and another family this past week. What an experience. We went to Surprise AZ to go to the Rangers camp. The backfields were definitely the highlight of the trip. We went to the backfields each of our three days there and my two boys raked it in as far as autos and souvenirs was concerned.
Day 1 – Luckily I went with a seasoned spring training veteran who quickly showed me the ropes. The Rangers were playing away that day so the crowd was light (better for us). Auto highlights that each boy got were: Tateyama, Tanner Scheppers, Michale Kirkman and Matt Harrison. All four of these guys were great. They signed for anyone that wanted an auto and Harrison and Tateyama would pose for pictures as well
Day 2 – The Spring Break masses showed up on this day. There was 5x’s the number of folks there so we got a lot of minor leaguers. We did get one “A” lister. AJ Pierzynski singed for a little while so it was good to get the newest Ranger that day
Day 3 – I call this the “Big Haul” day. We stayed at a hotel right by the stadium and several players stayed there as well. That morning my boys got Neftali Feliz and Alexi Ogando in the hotel lobby. Both were great sports about it and were more than happy to sign for the kids. Headed to the backfields and again the masses were out. We had little hopes of getting any big names. By now the boys were veterans and they had their spots picked out by the field were all the “A” players were. This was the first day back for Elvis Andrus as his team had lost in the WBC so everyone was excited to see him out there. Ian Kinsler and Elvis were clowning around and bantering back and forth about signing autographs. Then it happen, Kinsler cam out and started to sign. The mad rush was on form the fans but luckily our boys held there ground and were at the right spot. Kinsler signed for both of my boys and the other boy we went with. Then Andrus came out after Kinsler and did the same. So now they had Feliz, Ogando, Kinsler and Andrus. How do you top that? We went to the game and our section was even with the on deck circle for the Rangers. The coaches sit on the field at spring training so Ron Washington came out and signed for the boys as well.
Kinsler - Madness
Feliz in the lobby
Andrus
Ron Washington
Fergie Jenkins
So many Rangers were really good to the kids. The ones that I’m a big fan of now is Matt Harrison (posted and signed for everyone the one day he was out). Tanner Scheppers, signed every day I saw him and was having a great time. Kinsler and Andrus, made sure the kids were the priority. But our single best interaction was actually with the Rangers Minor League pitcher of the year, Cody Buckel. We went to dinner one night as we had to wait for a table. While waiting I noticed two really young guys and a girl waiting as well. I thought one of them was Cody Buckel but I wasn’t sure as my minor league recognition is not too good. I had the baseball cards and balls in the car from earlier in the day so I found some Buckel minor league cards and pulled them out. I walked up to Cody with my kid and asked if his name was Cody. He was shocked and replied “yes”. At that moment his friend busted out his phone and took a picture and posted it to twitter because it was the first time Cody had been recognized in public. Cody singed and then said we needed to get his friends autograph as well. I had no clue who the friend was but we got him to sign the ball. Turns out his buddy is Trevor Bauer. Both Bauer and Buckel joked around with us for a while as we waited for our tables. The next day Cody took a picture with the kids while in his ranger uniform. We are now big Cody Buckel fans to say the least.
Buckel
The only negative I took away from the entire experience was the behavior of some adults. I understand we are all fans and we all want that great souvenir but the number of adults I saw reaching over little kids, wedging in and pushing kids to the side etc. was appalling. My friend and I literally had to block adults at times so our kids didn’t get pushed over or overlooked. If you are one of those type of people then shame on you. 99% of you are not but for those 1% don’t be surprised if you get laid out one day by a father or mother who shows more restraint than I did.
Day 1 – Luckily I went with a seasoned spring training veteran who quickly showed me the ropes. The Rangers were playing away that day so the crowd was light (better for us). Auto highlights that each boy got were: Tateyama, Tanner Scheppers, Michale Kirkman and Matt Harrison. All four of these guys were great. They signed for anyone that wanted an auto and Harrison and Tateyama would pose for pictures as well
Day 2 – The Spring Break masses showed up on this day. There was 5x’s the number of folks there so we got a lot of minor leaguers. We did get one “A” lister. AJ Pierzynski singed for a little while so it was good to get the newest Ranger that day
Day 3 – I call this the “Big Haul” day. We stayed at a hotel right by the stadium and several players stayed there as well. That morning my boys got Neftali Feliz and Alexi Ogando in the hotel lobby. Both were great sports about it and were more than happy to sign for the kids. Headed to the backfields and again the masses were out. We had little hopes of getting any big names. By now the boys were veterans and they had their spots picked out by the field were all the “A” players were. This was the first day back for Elvis Andrus as his team had lost in the WBC so everyone was excited to see him out there. Ian Kinsler and Elvis were clowning around and bantering back and forth about signing autographs. Then it happen, Kinsler cam out and started to sign. The mad rush was on form the fans but luckily our boys held there ground and were at the right spot. Kinsler signed for both of my boys and the other boy we went with. Then Andrus came out after Kinsler and did the same. So now they had Feliz, Ogando, Kinsler and Andrus. How do you top that? We went to the game and our section was even with the on deck circle for the Rangers. The coaches sit on the field at spring training so Ron Washington came out and signed for the boys as well.
Kinsler - Madness
Feliz in the lobby
Andrus
Ron Washington
Fergie Jenkins
So many Rangers were really good to the kids. The ones that I’m a big fan of now is Matt Harrison (posted and signed for everyone the one day he was out). Tanner Scheppers, signed every day I saw him and was having a great time. Kinsler and Andrus, made sure the kids were the priority. But our single best interaction was actually with the Rangers Minor League pitcher of the year, Cody Buckel. We went to dinner one night as we had to wait for a table. While waiting I noticed two really young guys and a girl waiting as well. I thought one of them was Cody Buckel but I wasn’t sure as my minor league recognition is not too good. I had the baseball cards and balls in the car from earlier in the day so I found some Buckel minor league cards and pulled them out. I walked up to Cody with my kid and asked if his name was Cody. He was shocked and replied “yes”. At that moment his friend busted out his phone and took a picture and posted it to twitter because it was the first time Cody had been recognized in public. Cody singed and then said we needed to get his friends autograph as well. I had no clue who the friend was but we got him to sign the ball. Turns out his buddy is Trevor Bauer. Both Bauer and Buckel joked around with us for a while as we waited for our tables. The next day Cody took a picture with the kids while in his ranger uniform. We are now big Cody Buckel fans to say the least.
Buckel
The only negative I took away from the entire experience was the behavior of some adults. I understand we are all fans and we all want that great souvenir but the number of adults I saw reaching over little kids, wedging in and pushing kids to the side etc. was appalling. My friend and I literally had to block adults at times so our kids didn’t get pushed over or overlooked. If you are one of those type of people then shame on you. 99% of you are not but for those 1% don’t be surprised if you get laid out one day by a father or mother who shows more restraint than I did.
