Traffic and Baseball at Chain of Lakes Stadium

Winter Haven, Florida, March 2 -- What a wonderful day for a ballgame, 70 degrees, mostly sunny, with a slight breeze. Two good teams in the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians. Great seating too. The only thing Chain of Lakes Stadium had going against it today was the horrific traffic jam outside. Seriously, there's only one entrance? And it's located right at the junction of a couple major highways? There's a 30 minute wait at the will-call booth? Well, a couple of minor design flaws aside it was still a great day to see a game.

Once inside we of course headed directly for the beer and hot dog stand, where they employ a mix of senior citizens who are kind a friendly, if a bit slow, and young kids who can take your order but can't pour you a beer. Not a bad wait though, and good prices for great ballpark food and drink.

I was thrilled to see our seats were right behind the Tigers bench, and hoped to pick up some autographs for my boy. Unfortunately, with the exception of Brandon Inge ( who was kind enough to sign for anyone who stepped up, for at least 15 minutes), nobody wanted anything to do with the Detroit fans, and there were quite a few in attendance considering this was Cleveland's home-field for the spring.

There wasn't much for scoring in the first eight innings, and Cleveland led 3-0 going in to the ninth. Not a single homer was hit out of this small park either. Gary Sheffield went down swinging once, and was intentionally walked in the seventh.

And Brandon Inge started at cacher today? Inge can catch, catcher was his original position coming into the majors, but he does not want to catch, and he didn't seem thrilled about it today. I suppose since bringing in Miguel Cabrera they can stand to lose Inge, though he is one of the best third basemen in the game today, a fan favorite in Detroit, and a favorite within the organization.

Personally I don't see the sense in moving All Star shortstop Carlos Guillen to first base from shortstop either, and why let Sean Casey go in the first place? I'm sure that crafty manager Jim Leyland knows what he's doing, I just don't want to see the team changed around to the point that they spend the first couple months trying to regain their chemistry.

The Tigers had plenty of chances in the ninth, and just couldn't take advantage. The ninth started with a nice triple on the ground to deep left field, and the hitter neglected to touch second base on his way to third. It ended 3-1 with the bases loaded on a pop-fly after the Tig's only run had been walked in.

Altogether we had a great time, aside from the lack of parking, lack of fan appreciation from the Tigers, and the horrible pitching errors of M. Grilli, who I am hoping will lose his roster spot to a youngster with some actual talent.

I would recommend trying to catch Detroit in Lakeland, Fl, or even checking out the Blue Jays at Knology Park in Dunedin, Fl (especially if, like I, you have family living within walking distance), if you'd like to avoid the traffic and have a more relaxing day at the old ballgame. Really, I have had an easier time getting into Comerica Park on a busy Saturday evening in downtown Detroit, to see a regular season game, than we had trying to get into Chain of Lakes.