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Show i Spring training still boasts same old magic 1 ! By TOM HARALDSEN Clipper Correspondent Following my divorce nearly five years ago, my ex-wife relocated to ! Phoenix, Ariz., which has meant I that at least once a year since, I have ! the pleasure of traveling to Phoenix to visit my children and my furniture. fur-niture. I This year, I decided to make the ; trip in March, in order to catch a tradition as rich in baseball history as the sport it self-spring training. I'd looked forward to making this , jaunt for years, especially since the days when I left my native Califor-i Califor-i nia and moved to Single A Baseball i Land in Utah. The games I had made arrange-, arrange-, ments for seemed to be stuff spring ! training dreams are made of: the Cubs versus the A's and the Cubs versus the Indians. It was late March, Mar-ch, just a few days before training camps were to dissolve and the Major League Season was to begin. It started on a hot, sunny day at Phoenix Municipal Stadium with the Cubs and A's, two teams selected by many observers as possible World Series foes this fall. My three children and I arrived at the stadium in anxious anticipation. We took our seats along the left field foul line, and basked in the warm sunshine as the visiting Cubbies were introduced. It was exciting being in the same ballpark with Ryne Sandberg, Andre An-dre Dawson, Mark Grace, George Bell and the rest of the Cubs, not to mention Harry Carey and Steve Stone, the Chicago announcers. And we chilled to think that, on top of that, we'd also be able to see the A's superstars of Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, etc. But wait-the A's weren't really here. It was a split squad game, and "acting manager" Dave Duncan was left with a group of "B" players while the real A's were in New Orleans playing the Dodgers in an exhibition before 29,000 fans in the Superdome. Only former Cub Vance Law, who played last season for sushi in Japan, was on the field for Oakland this day. So it was the Cubs and the Oakland "B's," and everyone figured fig-ured this game would be a blowout for Chicago. Wrong again. Through nearly three hours in the very bright sun, these two teams fielded like Charlie Brown, hit like Richard Simmons and kept all of us on the edge of our No-Doz. When the A's came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, the game was tied at 1-all. Law finally gave us something to cheer about. The former BYU star and Provo resident had nearly homered in the sixth, and as he led off the ninth, he hit a line drive right at us. The ball ricocheted off a railing rail-ing and bounced about three rows behind us, giving our entire section something to talk about. In fact, everyone reached for their gloves as if he would hit another foul in our direct ion which he did on the next pitch. This soft shot actually cleared the stands and bounced on the mezzanine mez-zanine behind the last row. Three youngsters then risked $2,000 knee surgeries diving for the $5 baseball. Seconds later, another foul ball off Law's bat came our way, and suddenly, I felt like a CNN reporter in Saudi Arabia during a Scud attack. at-tack. After Law drew a walk, the next two Oakland batters similarly fouled pitches in our direction. There were no direct hits. The "BY finally won the game when a player named Francisco Matos doubled in a run in the bottom of the 10th. So the crowd of 9,213 filed out of Phoenix Memorial, and the sun set slowly in the West. The following Monday in Mesa, the Cubs hosted the Indians, and until un-til this day, I never realized that Cleveland is in worse trouble than the Indians portrayed in "Dancing with Wolves." For one thing, there was no Kevin Costner. For another. Keith Hernandez was off spending time with girlfriend Carly Simon or something, cuz he wasn't there. In fact, the Indians looked a lot like the t in i t B S. But sure enough, Cleveland's no-names no-names pounded the Cubs again, winning 6-4 and leaving the Chicago faithful with lots of doubts about this year's team. We did get to see Mitch Williams throw an inning inn-ing of smoke in relief, and Sandberg had four hits between the two games, but in general, the Cubs were disappointments. Spring training at Ho Ho Kam Park, the Cubs' home, does mean plenty of good food, however. We even ran into (literally) Harry Carey as he walked into the stadium. He SEE SPRING ON A-12 their keep, the no-names from some Puerto Rican telephone directory can continue lamenting their bad fortune at losing the Super Bowl and electing crooks to political office. of-fice. And while my spring training adventure wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, I still enjoyed the looks, smells and feelings of baseball. Besides, it was great to see my kids, and the piano, china hutch and dining room table were just fine. Spring CONTINUED FROM A-11 was smiling and tan and had a Bud Man belly. He sang 4 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' during the seventh-inning stretch, and I told the kids they had just witnessed a part of baseball's history. The regular season opens this week, which is good. The high-salaried high-salaried players can start earning |