Greetings from Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida

Update 11:15 AM: outside the main gate

My ticket:

I had a rough start with my iPhone WordPress plugin but I think I've got it figured out now. I should be inside shortly.

Update 11:31 AM: inside! Cardinals batting practice.

My first thought when I got in: sone fat guy ate Jose Oquendo....oh wait, that IS Jose Oquendo.

Skip Schumaker in the cage:

Well, ok that was between his turns hitting.

Mark McGwire is standing right behind the cage watching all the hitters. He looks basically the same as when he retired but a little slimmer.

Update 11:50 Tony LaRussa giving an interview. Incidentally McGwire is in the Schumaker photo above.

Update 11:57 AM: Batting now are Rasmus, Stavinoha, and Henley. It's beautiful here in the low 60's with crystal clear skies. Today's matchup is Josh Johnson vs Kyle Lohse. First pitch at 1:05.

Update 12:05 PM: Apparently chicks dig Colby Rasmus. As Cardinals BP ended he headed to the outfield door (see below) accompanied by many screams from female fans. This stadium has a nice grass area for fans in the right field corner.

Update 12:14 PM: I find it very difficult to evaluate batting practice despite having seen many such sessions. It seems to be the norm for each guy to focus on hitting line drives for most of his turn and then perhaps swing for the fences on his last couple of swings. I saw a few long homers but mostly line drives through the infield. McGwire took a couple guys aside to give them tips but otherwise it's tough to tell much. Incidentally after I got a closer look at McGwire I realized he's dropped a lot of muscle off his frame but has added a bit of a gut.

Update 12:34 PM: I got it wrong. This game is Marlins at Cardinals. Both teams use this stadium as their spring home, so one can never be sure which is the home team when they meet. This is also why they play each other so often during spring training. With the Orioles leaving Ft. Lauderdale there are very few teams on the east coast of Florida now and it's a long trip over to the Ft. Myers/Tampa area where the rest of the Grapefruit League teams train.

Update 12:40 PM: I just saw something I've never seen before. I don't know if he is playing today, but Jason LaRue was just "catching warming up" by squatting as per usual and taking pitches despite not wearing any catching gear.

Also the Marlins have just made their first appearance. They are wearing white pants and black jerseys with teal trim.

"Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum is playing over the loudspeaker. There is a fascinating story behind that song.

Update 12:47 PM: Ok.. The Marlins are the home team. I swear. These teams play 6 times here in March.

The lineups were just announced. Pujols and Hanley Ramirez got the biggest cheers, which makes sense since they finished 1-2 for NL MVP last year. Pretty much major league lineups for both teams. Cardinals bat two guys named Tyler in a row--Henley 7th and Greene 8th.

Update 1:03 PM: During the national anthem...a lineup of Cardinals players and coaches with Red Schoendienst at the end!

Update 1:13 PM: impressive first inning for Josh Joshson with two weak grounders and a strikeout looking of Pujols. Just before the first pitch, Bob Gibson was spotted by some fans, which created a bit of a stir.

Update 1:19 PM: nice bit of hitting by Coghlan, reaching out and dunking it into right field. Then LaRue (who IS catching) nearly caught him napping off first after the next pitch. A batter later Ramirez smoked a line drive to left on a hit-and-run. Coghlin made it all the way to second before having to retreat after a diving catch. Who's out there? Hanley I think...but no scoreboard showing lineups here to help me out.

Update 1:36 pm: John Jay (not Henley) backs up his awesome catch with a single and then takes second when the ball rolls only about 4 feet from catcher Ronnie Paulino. But Paulino has impressed me so far, showing the hustle that all catchers should, running to back up routine plays at first base. Then Tyler #1 walks. Then Tyler #2 strikes out but the ball gets away from Paulino again. He makes a great recovery and throw to first, but Greene beats it and Jay scores from second...wow!

Update 1:47 PM: Uggla is batting sixth, surprisingly. Last year he batted 5th and 6th but I still think of him as a #2 guy. I guess he doesn't get on base enough to justify hitting so high. Meanwhile Uggla gets on then Morrison hits into a DP...won't help his chances at winning the first base job. Johnson comes out for a pinch-hitter...he's done.

My phone is already getting low on batteries...I may not make it much longer with the live blog.

Update 1:51 PM: Pujols is rung up looking on a 3-2 pitch again and Rasmus hits another ball hard--this time a single to left. Meanwhile 1st base umpire CB Bucknor is reaching into his pocket and eating sunflower seeds while the game is going on. Must be spring training.

Photo shows Pujols, Bucknor, Miller on first and first base coach Dave Collins.

Update 2:03 PM: Nice hustle double by Coghlan, then he eventually scores on a wild pitch. Cantu fails to score a runner from third with fewer than two outs. So much for my Bermanism for him: Jorge "don't say I can't because I" Cantu.

Update 2:11 PM: Since I'm not an actual journalist I decided to openly cheering, shouting "come on Logan, dig in!" between pitches while he batted with 2 on and 2 out. He struck out looking on the next pitch and was visibly angry. Thing is-I know he heard me because I'm only about 40 feet from the batters box.

Update 2:26 PM: lots of lazy infield throws by both teams today and it finally burns Tyler Greene as he throws away an easy double play ball and allows two runs to score. On the next play Tyler Henley made an outstanding throw home to nail a runner. Meanwhile Salas is getting hammered.

My seat is about 15 feet behind the right field dugout. It was pretty cool to watch Henley's throw range from my right to the plate at my left. Spring training is awesome for many reasons, including proximity to the field.

Salas is getting crushed, having allowed 4 runs already even with the runner thrown out. Of course, Greene's error wasn't his fault but the balls are rocketing off the Marlins' bats.

Update 2:36 PM: Hanley Ramirez's turn as he airmails a throw and almost kills someone in the crowd Knoubloch-style. I shout "doesn't either team have a shortstop?" and get a laugh from the crowd, but a nasty look from 1st base coach Dave McKay. Just kidding on that last part. Now a ball gets away from the warmup catcher (along the rightfield line) and my man Morrison screams for time out as the ball rolls onto the field of play. Must be spring training.

Update 2:49 PM: Morrison leads off. How many times do you see that? Guy shrieks on the field and then bats first in the next half-inning. He looked totally overmatched against Ryan Franklin. Then Franklin gives up a hard-hit ball to Scott Cousins and screams something unprintable before the ball even gets to the outfield. Classy guy.

My phone is just about dead so I'm going to sign off. Overall the experience has been great but the players look rusty and, frankly, a little lazy. Infield play for both teams had been poor. Of course, that's why these guys get a month of practice before the games count.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 11:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.