Scottdale's Celebrity Baseball Tournament 2008

While this may not be a trip you can take any weekend you want, the celebrity baseball tournament is one of the first semi-pro baseball games of the year. It was fairly hard for Krystina and I to pass up as well seeing as we were given two free tickets by her stepmother. The tickets normally run only $10 a piece so even without free tickets, this easily falls into the cheap trip area. The stadium is incredibly easy to find; just take the 202 to the Scottsdale Road exit, and go North until you run into a ballpark! If you've been in the valley a long time, you may also remember Scottsdale stadium as the old home of the Phoenix Firebirds minor league team, and during spring training it is the home of the Giants.

If you are itching for the thrills of a hard hitting, fast paced ball game to lull you out of your winter slumber, this is definitely not the game for you. Most of the players were retired baseball players with a few football players and comedians thrown into the mix for some extra flavor. The game was full of fun little jokes, bad pitching, worse fielding and at times absolutely hilarious. One of the best parts of the day was when an old football player stepped up to the plate and was having trouble connecting with the ball, out came the over-sized tee, and they let him take his swings at a stationary target. Throughout the game, the announcer would crack jokes at the players, grab random kids from the crowd to interact on the field, and they even did a raffle for an old Red Sox jersey signed by Ted Williams.

Of course, what fun would a ballgame be without the hot dogs, Cracker Jacks, peanuts, and beer. Unfortunately, while the price of admission was cheap for this game, the concessions were just about par for a ball game, $4 hot dogs and $9 beers were hacked out of every stand in the park. The blow of these prices was softened by the fact that all proceeds of the entire game (tickets, raffle tickets, food, drinks, souvenirs) went straight into the little league teams of the Phoenix area, a few lucky teams scoring $1,000 - $25,000 a piece.

Overall, I would highly recommend hitting the celebrity baseball tournament next year, and if you missed it don't fret... spring training is only a few weeks away! Time and funds permitting, I expect to have a tour of all the ball parks laid out throughout the season so keep your eyes peeled for updates.

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