Last baseball game of spring training today. The Phillies played the Toronto Blue Jays on a " Get Away Day". The game started an hour early at 12:00 pm to facilitate the departure of the team to Dallas (Arlington, TX) for their opening day with the Texas Rangers on Thursday night.
The regulars played into the 5th inning and some of the reserves and minor leaguers finished the game. The Phillies won in the bottom of the 9th inning. With the win, they finished with a spring training record of 16-14-1.
We also said goodby to a great group of park staff in our reserved seating area. They really made us feel welcome. Many are seasonal, some are regulars and work the Phillies Class A team, the Clearwater Threshers games during the summer. The Threshers play most of their games in the evening due to the Tampa summer heat. The crowds are not large. They say they average about a 1,000 people each game and frequently have promotions like $1.00 hot dogs and beer. The tickets are cheap, and you get to watch a lot of young minor league players who may-or-may not ever make "The Show". In contrast, about 140,000 people attended Philles Spring Training games this year. Most were from out of town.
Baseball also continues here for now as the minor league/non-roster players continue their spring training. The minor league team rosters will be formed shortly and the players for each minor league team will travel to their home parks (Allentown, PA, Reading, PA, and Lakewood, NJ). The rest of the young prospects not making a minor league team roster, will stay here for Extended Spring Training into the summer with the club development staff. It really is almost a year-round baseball operation down here.
After the game and a quick stop to a nearby Sam's Club, we headed over to Clearwater Beach to have an early dinner at another favorite restaurant, The Columbia. It features Cuban cuisine and has been open since 1905 at its original location in Ybor City, the Cuban cigar community just north of Tampa. They now have 4 locations in Florida. The one we visited is on the water between Clearwater and Clearwater Beach, just south of town. We have eaten here many times, and once again, had a great meal, - a pitcher of sangria, tapas and authentic Cuban bread.
We will be focusing on getting ready to depart on Saturday. It will a busy time. Right now, the weather looks good all the way to New Mexico. It is too early to tell beyond there. And of course, things may change before we get there.
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