Another Vegas vacation. Another round of tacos at Del Taco. And another "on the road" blog post. Only this time I'm with my other brother... and we're not stuck in a snow storm.
In fact, the weather was perfect. So perfect that we even convinced Papa Fuji to get out of the house and hit some balls at the driving range:
All of you golf enthusiasts out there, try not to judge me too harshly on my form. I'm one of those recreational golfers who enjoys the executive courses in t-shirts and flip flops, instead of the traditional collared shirts and golf shoes.
My wallet card even had the opportunity to breathe some fresh air on the trip:
Willow Beach, Arizona
Willow Beach is about seven miles south of Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in Arizona. Papa Fuji rented a boat and we spent a couple of hours on the river. Unfortunately they don't allow boats with motors to travel north up to the dam on Sundays or Mondays. No biggie though.
The canyons south of the marina were gorgeous and we had a great time out on the river.
In an effort to turn this into a baseball card post, here are three guys who were born in Arizona:
2017 Topps Gallery #143
2011 Tier One Crowd Pleaser Autograph #CP-AE
2011 Tier One Crowd Pleaser Autograph #CP-IK
Kinsler has the honor of having the highest WAR among MLB players and the most MLB All-Star Game appearances, while Cody is the only guy born in Arizona to win an NL MVP Award. All three of these guys own at least one Gold Glove Award.
John Denny and Jeremy Affeldt are the two biggest names I recognized in regards to pitchers. Sadly, I don't have any saved scans of either player sitting in my cloud and I doubt I'll remember to dig through boxes to find any when I get home.
Instead, I'd rather read your comments...
Have you ever been in Arizona?
Do you have a favorite Arizona memory or athlete?
Well that's it for now. Perfect timing too, because I'm starting to get car sick.
Happy Tuesday and sayonara!
Congrats on the time out with your dad.These days ,ya gotta connect like never before. I've never been to Arizona but do like a couple of Diamondbacks,or should I say ex-Diamondbacks. A.J. Pollock ,Carlos Quentin and I think that's about It lol.
ReplyDeleteThis post hit a soft spot for me. I am flying into Las Vegas in two weeks to go to Arizona to move my girlfriend back to Ohio. I already asked her about going to Del Taco.
ReplyDeleteAZ is one of my favorite spots. I've been to Spring Training twice and couple other times on family vacations. The Grand Canyon is cool of course, but I really enjoyed Sedona and Prescott as well.
ReplyDeleteNever been to AZ. But 2 of the 3 guys you posted are PC guys f mine.
ReplyDeletenever been to AZ. I love being on the water though. Looks peaceful! How does your back handle the golfing?
ReplyDeleteLove the wallet card photo!
ReplyDeleteVisited Tucson, AZ a few times as a kid, as my mom's college roommate lived there. Lots of good times playing with her sons who were just a bit younger than me.
My folks live around there now, but I'm ashamed to admit I haven't visited them yet (instead making them come up to visit me).. but probably someday. Plus my wife has some family in the Phoenix area.
Wow, looks like a really beautiful place. Never been to Arizona but maybe someday!
ReplyDeleteThe boat ride looks nice. I grew up in Las Vegas during the 80's and 90's, so I got to go to Arizona once in a while. We did a river boat ride below the damn one time too. Those pictures looked really nice!
ReplyDeleteGood to see you and your family enjoying the nice weather! I've never been to Arizona. My favorite Arizona sports moment has to be the D-Backs winning the 2001 World Series. Can't think of any Arizona athletes except Auston Matthews, but Dustin Pedroia went to Arizona State. Does that count?
ReplyDeleteYou are doing plenty of things correctly with your golf swing.
ReplyDeleteI was pulled over by the police while running in AZ. That has happened to me in a few other states too.
No Kellogg's baseball cards from 1970 - 1983 feature players born in Arizona. I don't think any of the cards after that included AZ guys either. Denny's Cy Young in 1983 was just a bit too late.
I love Arizona, the people are great and tons to do. I went to the All Star game a few years back and have hit Spring Training a number of times. I am going there for work next week but unfortunately don't have time to catch a Spring Training game.
ReplyDeleteMy family drove through AZ to visit family friends in New Mexico. I got to drive through AZ on the way back home. That's it for memories of AZ but I'd love to go there to see the Dodgers at Spring Training. That's awesome that you featured a couple of Dodgers autos. If I'm not mistaken, Andre Ethier attended ASU with Dustin Pedroia.
ReplyDeleteI've been to Arizona many times, most recently last year when I made it to a dbacks game. That tier one ethier is a nice looking card. It reminds me of the 3 asu guys who played for the dodgers and wore number 16 while doing so.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great vacation... how bad can it be with Del Taco?! I have only driven through AZ a few times. Never long enough to feel the vibe.
ReplyDeleteLooks fun! I've been to Vegan and flown over AZ a bunch, but never have set foot in the state.
ReplyDeleteI had to go out to Phoenix for training once I graduated from college in 2001. Of course it had to be the entire month of July that I was out there. Got to see the Grand Canyon and experience my first baseball game in an air conditioned stadium. I still remember watching Bonds hitting two home runs off Curt Schilling in that game.
ReplyDeleteI've never been to Arizona, but my wife ran a flower shop in Tucson with her aunt for a couple years.
ReplyDeleteDid Spring Training three times as a kid. First two were big autographfests for me. Lots of fun just hanging out in the Scottsdale parking lot and getting signatures. Early-90s. Got Barry and Bobby Bonds. Got Vida Blue. Got Willie Mays… Third was post-strike and I had passed out of the hobby. So I just enjoyed being there in the sun and watching games.
ReplyDeletebig tone - thanks. i totally agree. all of my siblings and i have been trying to hang out and keep him company as much as our work schedules will allow.
ReplyDeleteohiotim - good luck with the move. i think the thing i love about del taco is that i don't have access to it on a regular basis. i only get to eat it when i travel down to southern california, the central valley, or las vegas
p-town tom - i want to attend spring training at some point. it'll definitely be one of the things i do when i retire. and i've only been to sedona once, but it was gorgeous
johnnys trading spot - i'm gonna guess bellinger and kinsler
acrackedbat - my back was fine after swinging... but it was pretty sore after the boat ride. on the way back, the water was choppy and we were bouncing all over the place. and the 9 hour drive home didn't help. but it's just tender. i didn't throw it out again (thank goodness)
defgav - my brother and dad were wondering what the heck i was doing with that gwynn. it was kinda windy that day and on several occasions, the gwynn almost flew into the colorado river. i've never been to tucson, but i have been to phoenix on several occasions
sean - this arizona/nevada state line travels up the colorado river in some parts, so the time on my phone switched about 10 different times on the boat ride. it was a really scenic place.
base card hero - it was a really cool experience. we're already trying to plan another trip, so we can travel upstream to see hoover dam.
chris - yeah, the weather was perfect. i'm not a fan of the heat, so the low 70's temperature was perfect. and the diamondbacks beating the yankees is probably my favorite arizona moment as well. sure pedroia counts. i thought about looking into players who went to college there, but i needed to wrap things up because my stomach was getting queezy
runforekelloggs - pulled over by police for running? what's the story behind that? running too fast? holding up traffic? i'll trust that you're correct about the kellogg's thing. by the way, those cards you sent have been scanned. can't wait to right up that post.
arpsmith - i'd love to go to spring training there one day. have a safe business trip there next week
bbcardz - yeah, it looks like pedroia and ethier were both there in 2002 and 2003.
gcrl - i racked my brains and did a quick search on baseball reference, but couldn't figure out the other two dodgers who went to asu and wore #16.
sumomenkoman - it was a great mini vacation and a del taco played a role in that. i feel like i misled people with this post, since i was only in arizona for 3 to 4 hours that day. the rest of the trip we were in vegas
the lost collector - it was a blast. when i got back, my friend who attended university of arizona told me some wild spring break stories that took place on the colorado river
reds card collector - i've only been to chase field once, but it was a pretty awesome experience since i got to watch them play the padres. i'll definitely go back to the state at some point since my sister lives there, but when i do... i'm going to try and avoid the summer months
matt - never been to tucson, but maybe one day.
nick vossbrink - wow bonds and mays signed for you? that's awesome! i'd like to attend spring training at some point in my lifetime
Rick Monday and paul loduca!
DeleteNever been, but it seems like a great place to live.
ReplyDeleteI was sad to see Adam Jones go to the D'Backs, never to be seen here again...
Ironically, I'm eating tacos while reading this post.
Haven't been to Arizona, but as a golfer I should really put it on my list. I hear there are some excellent desert courses out there. Also, for some reason I feel like having tacos for dinner.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Arizona now. Actually I'm in AZ every day. lol
ReplyDeleteThe Gwynn card brought such a smile to my face. The setting was awesome, too. I forgot about Andre E!
ReplyDeletegca - it's way too hot for me to ever consider living there, but i go there every now and then to visit my sister's family. and it's 7:26am as i type this comment, and i could totally eat some tacos right now.
ReplyDeletegregory - i haven't golfed in arizona yet. but i have played a couple of desert courses in vegas
adame - nice. are you going to attend any spring training games?
peter k steinberg - lol. it came close to flying into the river. luckily it didn't though
I own an accounting firm so I'm pretty busy while spring training is going on but I will probably get to a game or two.
ReplyDeleteI try to hit a bunch of the Fall League games. I have more time, they cost like $8 to get in, and hardly anyone is there. Plus it is all the players that are "going to be stars".
Funny, I just mentioned this on Bo's blog. I went to Arizona in 2008 to see the Rockies play Spring Training. They were at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson at the time, in the years before they joined the D-backs at a shared facility.
ReplyDeleteI went with my sister who was turning 21 while we were there. We visited the Grand Canyon on the drive down, then briefly stopped in Phoenix, then stayed a few days in Tucson. It was my first Spring Training game, and also my first time trying In-N-Out.
I love the picture with the wallet card and that Gwynn autograph is sweet.
ReplyDelete1. I have not been in Arizona, but my brother has a Doctorate Degree from U of A.
2. My favorite baseball player from Arizona is Tom Pagnozzi.
adame - never thought to go down for the fall league. might have to see if any of my breaks line up with their schedule.
ReplyDeleteadam kaningher - what did you think of in-n-out? so many people love that place. i'm more of a del taco kind of guy ;)
the snorting bull - my best friend went to u of a, so i'll usually root for them if they're participating in march madness. as for pagnozzi, i remember him playing with the cards. did he play with the bulls too?
To be honest I was a bit underwhelmed. I had it again in Anaheim and really didn't see what the fuss was all about. They are opening some locations in Colorado this year so maybe third time's the charm.
DeleteI have an uncle who lives in Tucson that I visited as a kid in the mid-70's but I hadn't been back there in nearly 40 years until I had to make some work related trips a few years ago plus an extended weekend vacation with my wife. I thought the state was beautiful. I managed to combine each of the four trips I made with some baseball, catching the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters doing their early spring training a couple of times and seeing Arizona Fall League games on a couple other trips. I do need to point out that how much I enjoyed my visits is probably directly related to the fact that I visited in January, February, October and November.
ReplyDeletenpb card guy - when i visit, i try to avoid the hot months as well. january, february, october, november (and december) are the ideal months for me to visit.
Delete