Let's Play Two!

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Ernie Banks, the great Chicago Cubs centerfielder, said it best. It's not that often that I get to sit through a doubleheader, and that's probably because of all the professional games I see. While I know that the twin-bill tends to deplete the players, it is seems really pure, especially on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. My recent Baseball Road Trip to UC Riverside saw the hometown Highlanders take on the Hornets of Sacramento State and the Mountaineers of West Virginia.

To start with, Riverside is about twenty minutes from Highland. Surprisingly, this massive city of over 300,000 does not have a professional team. At one time, the city had the High-A affiliate of the Mariners in the California League, but they relocated to Lancaster, where they currently sit. You would think that this sprawling city would have some foot in the minor league door, but after going to the games, I'm not at all surprised.

The current home of the Highlanders is Riverside Sports Complex. Interestingly enough, it was the home of the old High-A team before they moved. Located just off the 215 freeway, the "'Plex", as the announcer called it, is a real drab ballpark. It's all metal seating from base-to-base with fixed folding seats on the baselines and bleachers with backs behind homeplate. Maybe it was because of the sparse crowd, but no concession stands were open and the only food was from a coffee truck parked out in the left-field bullpen. To be honest, it's no wonder that affiliated baseball left town.

To try and take away some positives from the park, it has a great view of Box Mountain over the centerfield wall and, strangely, unlike every other college park I've been to, it does not have netting over the dugouts. This meant that one could actually have an unimpeded view of the game from behind the dugout.

To be honest, I was really there to watch the games. I was more interested in seeing West Virginia from the Big 12 than Sacramento State from the Big Sky, but I'm always up for extra baseball, so I didn't care in the end. With these college games down here in Southern California, my trip to Dedeaux Field being the exception, I've been looking for marquee match-ups between big name teams. As the college non-conference season winds down, I'll be shutting down that philosophy in favor of getting back to the professional scene. However, for this day, it was all about the Highlanders, the Hornets and the Mountaineers.

In the first game, UC Riverside got some big offensive power from the middle of their lineup to beat Sacramento State 6-1.

In the second game, the Mountaineers took advantage of some strong starting pitching, miscues by the Highlanders defense, and timely hitting to beat UC Riverside 7-4.

As was my trip to Dedeaux Field, I had a great time interacting with the visiting fans from the far away college. And just like the good folks from Fargo, ND, the people from Morgantown, WV were very friendly and talkative with me. The one woman I interacted with had a son who played on the West Virginia team and we had a great conversation about West Virginia's move from the Big East to the Big 12, college football, baseball in West Virginia, and Southern California, in general. For the future, when I go to a college game, I'm going to sit in the visiting team's fan's section.

Countdowns are an intricate part of Baseball Road Trips. Once one ends, another begins. And the one that begun after the last out on Sunday is huge. On Friday, I make my triumphant return after a two season hiatus to Arizona and the Cactus League. Starting on Friday, my plan is to see four Spring Training games in three days in and around Phoenix. The plan is for Texas-Cincinnati from Goodyear on Friday, LA Angels-Colorado from Salt River Fields and Dodgers-White Sox from Camelback Ranch on Saturday, and Seattle-LA Angels from Tempe Diablo on Sunday.

The best part about the entire trip is that a really good friend of mine, and a dedicated reader of this blog, will be joining me on this trip. She is flying down from Eugene to LAX and taking the Metrolink to San Bernardino on Thursday. I can't wait to show her around my new home and surroundings that day and, more importantly, to finally have someone to come with me to games! Just being able to talk to someone during a Baseball Road Trip will be purely awesome.

Long weekend...in Arizona...for Spring Training...with a good friend...? Yes, I am super excited.

Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)