Squirrel

Well, along the back it does say, in small letters 'Spring Training 2015'

Halsey, were you there today? I stopped by for a bit, but couldn't stay long. Saw Hughes in his vehicle leaving. But saw Hunter, Hicks, Vargas and I think Hermann (?) take some BP. So great to hear that crack of the bat and to see green, manicured baseball fields! Stopped by the gift store and bought my yearly hat purchase. (see below) The woman in the gift store mentioned that there would be two open houses for the 'new' stadium; one on Feb. 22 and another on Mar. 1, from 10-2, with organized tours and half-price concessions. Didn't ask about the presence of any players or mgmt, but the 22nd is the ribbon cutting so I would assume someone would be around. (Maybe Halsey knows?)

Yeah, you said this better, but yeah. That's what was in my head.

I think there were several reasons why they signed Torii, and PR very well could be one of them. I'd hesitate to call it a 'stunt,' though. And I think 'mentoring' Hicks is another. It's of my opinion that the Twins are reaching their end with Hicks and need him to finally step up. If Hunter can help him get to where we need Hicks to be, it's money well spent. Now I'm not saying this is fact ... it's my speculation.

But I should add, I'm of the more hopeful variety ... until I'm slapped in the face with hopelessness. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

Yes, they should be. I'm not one for predictions; it's basically one person's 'educated' guess, or another's 'intuition' or another's 'hope' or another's 'doom.' Maybe one's methodology might be deemed more sound than another's, that's part of what makes it interesting, how each comes to their own conclusions, but it still doesn't make any one prediction any more 'right' or 'wrong,' not when ST hasn't even yet begun, let alone the actual season. But it is fun to theorize and hope and guess. I see no reason for the need to call anyone out for being overly optimistic at this stage in the game; nor calling anyone out for being overly pessimistic, either. Just disagree and say why you do, whether or not you are hopeful or hopeless.

Halsey, is most of this happening on the back fields? Any access yet to the stadium?

Try living here

That was a beautiful post and a beautiful tribute to your Grandfather. My thoughts are with you and your family at this time.

Lunch break? Do any come back in the afternoon for more?

Halsey, about when do people start working out and practicing? I might be able to stop by tomorrow or Thursday depending on my parents.

I love reading these kinds of stories. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the numbers game of sports that we sometimes forget or fail to consider the human side of things. And I agree with all the good sentiments above re Koskie.

Heh, or a combination?

Careful, gunnar, you might get sued for that comment.

Well, or as you aged, your hearing lessened a bit!

Halsey, great stuff! I'm excited to be down there next week and will hopefully stop by. When you have new comments, post new comments, don't edit. That way the thread gets bumped up and we all know when something new has been posted! Maybe stick a date at the beginning of the post like 'From Feb. 4' so it makes it stand out a bit more. Thanks for doing this! I think we are all getting antsy for the season to begin!

I'll just miss you, stringer ... I'll be there 8-15 March.

Yikes ... from there it's still going to take you 2 hours to get to the stadium, depending on which way you come. Driving it ... go around and come up 41 instead of trying to cross the bridge to San Carlos. It's fun being on Fort Myers Beach ... it's just not so fun getting elsewhere. Play it by ear ... some days it might be okay. If you don't need a car every day, you could check to see if they do zip cars down there and rent as you need it. But given the amount of people around that time of year, I don't know if I would count on that or trust that cars would be returned on time for when you need it. A car rental for a week that time of year could cost more than airfare. Check with off-airport rental companies as they will likely have slightly better pricing. I like the scooter idea!

He'd be my choice, too, but I think Arcia will also be in there.

As for seats in the stadium, that's all individual. I like the seats along the 1st base side in the upper part(sections 203-206), about 10 rows back ... they enjoy the shade for most of the game! I also enjoy the new seats out in right field. The back row is under a pergola type thing, so while not completely in the shade, it feels a little filtered. But if you don't mind sun, go for the seats in the lower section, between the dugouts (sections 105-111). If you've never been before, and don't mind wandering during the game, just get something out in right field or even standing room, and just keep walking around. As Thrylos said, the ushers do check your tickets, particularly in the main stadium area, but late in the games you can pretty much sit anywhere.

There is a bus stop on Plantation Rd that runs along the west side of the stadium complex. There is a bus system in Ft. Myers, but it doesn't run as frequently as in a large city. You would have to do a lot of planning to get around by bus. You'll have to check out the system to see how it works. Personally, I wouldn't count on using the transit system and would highly recommend a car, but it's doable. Again, with a lot of planning. Here is the website for the bus system. But if you are a biker, you can rent bikes by the week and bike in, unless you end up staying too far away. There are sidewalks for bikes and a lot of people do commute that way here, but many more still use cars. I met a guy at the stadium once who biked into the game, and then found out he lived in the same development as my parents. So, it's doable, if you are a biker. I think there's a hotel at Bell Towers, (the Crown Plaza, I think?) which is closer to the stadium than the ones out on I-75; I think there are others near there, but I don't recall the names and I would guess it's expensive. (Edit: Crowne Plaza, Fairfield Inn, Crestwood Suites and Homewood Suites are all near Bell Towers, near-ish the stadium. Maybe a tad closer than those out by I-75, but not by much.) From what I've been hearing from my trips down so far this year is that everything in the area is really booked! After last year's winter, a lot of people want OUT of the north this year. So, I'd advise you to make your plans NOW. If you have a car, and don't mind going out a bit, check out hotel listings in Estero or Bonita Springs, but stay away from Fort Myers Beach! That time of year the traffic to/from there is more than impossible! If you find a hotel and want an idea about proximity to things, shoot me a PM.

I'd love to go to a Blackhawks game sometime but it's just too darn expensive and then you end up with seats so far away that watching the game on TV is closer.

Hockey has an all-star game? Does that mean the seasin is half over?

That's an excellent idea! And update us on the construction and who's around doing what from players to coaches to FO personnel and grounds crew. When I have time I'll send you a step by step how to post pictures and video. It's much easier to do from a computer, so hopefully you can download photos to a computer.

Halsey, you need to post pictures of these things, or video, or something.