HoHoKam Here We Come

The white stuff in the sky in the pic above isn't late February snow.  The green stuff on the ground is alive.  We're hoping this Sunday that Mesa AZ, in the middle of the 'Valley of the Sun,' lives up to its geographic name when we go to visit Janet's dad in Scottsdale for his 70th birthday.  The Cubs have been playing their home spring training games

at HoHoKam (ancient SW native American tribe) since 1952.  In a bit of park history, we find out that the original Rendezvous Park at this location was so small that it couldn't accommodate the ball teams' luggage, so would have to be moved and stored outside for the duration of each game and that because of high attendance, 500 wooden bleacher seats were pulled in from Los Angeles "Wrigley Field" to serve as 'boxed seats.'  Cubs' spring training games here have consistently drawn the highest attendance in all of baseball at an average of 10,690 per game...unheard of for games that don't matter statistically.   The Cubs will be hosting our very own Milwaukee Brewers Sunday, who themselves play only a few miles away at Maryvale.

The Brew Crew are 1-4 right now, but Ryan Braun is already red hot (!) after 5 at bats, batting .400 with one home run.  Heckuva season so far. Only 180 some odd games to go until the post season...