HOT TIME, SUMMER IN THE CITY

By mlblogsstevestewart1

The Royals enjoyed their trip back to their “home base” of Arizona. Not Surprise, but Phoenix, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They play under a retractable roof, which opens at times even in the heat of summer. Kudos to the man (person?) who invented air conditioning.

If I were to put only one picture on this particular post, this would be it. Pretty much says it all. Bob Davis advised me to write “but it’s a dry heat!” under the photo…haha.

Here is the legendary Joe Garagiola, Sr., with FSN’s Joel Goldberg. I took this picture to commemorate the fact that Joel’s mother was a contestant on the early-1970’s game show “Sale of the Century,” for which Garagiola was the host. Joel believes his mom, Nancy, was pregnant with him while she was a contestant on the show, so, in effect, he was on the show as well. Upon his birth, Joel was lavished with many “lovely parting gifts.”

Here’s a picture with Joe and me. I don’t need a reason…it’s my blog. I will say he’s one of the most enjoyable people I’ve ever interviewed. He’s the most amazing story teller I’ve ever met (or heard). Joe’s son, Joe Jr.is the former general manager of the D-Backs. He currently works for Major League baseball.

Chase Field (formerly the BOB), is in its 11th year as the home of the Dbacks. On this day, the roof was closed during the late afternoon, during batting practice, while the air conditioners did their thing.

Then as the game is a few minutes from beginning, they open the roof. So the fans can enjoy an “open-air” ballgame in the evening (they don’t do this for day games), the cooling system keeps it pleasant for the game.

Of course they leave it open as long as possible each day so the grass can get plenty of sunlight.

Now the ballpark is ready for baseball. It’s 106 degrees outside, but the cooling system is cranked up, and the roof is open and it’s time to “Play Ball!”

The swimming pool in right centerfield rents for $6,500 per game. A great view of the field….

As I was taking this picture, one of the kids in the pool noticed my camera/phone and said,”cool, that’s an IPhone!” Of course I’m thinking “cool, your parents just spent $6,500 dollars so you could go swimming during a baseball game!”

And last, but not least, this is FSN pregame producer Bobby Reed, asleep as the plane lands in St. Louis after winning the series in Arizona. You can write your own caption.