Monday, March 3, 2008

2008 Wrap Up

This blog will likely remain dormant until early 2009, so I'll finish up like I did last year with the best of the best. Luckily this year I don't have a lost baseball glove to gripe about.

Best Food:

Competitors this year included the regulars in Sonic and Checkers, but new specialized entries like the Beer/Cheese Dip at the Dunedin Brewery and the Beef Quesadillas at Casa Tina's made a great first impression. It would be easy for me to give the award to the excellent Memphis Style ribs at Brady's, but I think the Red Garlic Potatoes were more of a pleasant surprise and unable to be repeated around here.

Favorite Spring Training Park:

Last year I characterized the Jays operation as commercial compared to the Rays. After experiencing Brighthouse Field's $7 parking, $20 regular seats (we paid $10 to sit in the grass), and incessant plugs for Frenchy's and the Tilted Kilt (TIT KILT!!!!), Dunedin wasn't just pleasant, it was delightfully different. However, I still have to characterize Al Lang Field as the undisputed winner. As the Rays will move their training grounds to Port Charlotte next year, Al Lang will likely never again be used for this purpose. A shame really, the atmosphere there is excellent and the intimacy with the grass berm/bullpen arrangement is hard to match.

Ironman Award:

Since I didn't see three distinct Jay events this year, I have to give the award to the Blue Jay who simply logged the most at-bats and by extension played the most innings. That players this year would be Alex Rios, whose 6 at-bats earned him the crown. Alex made up for hogging rightfield by getting exactly 0 hits and leaving 3 men on base.

Pitching Award:

Dustin McGowan and Casey Janssen looked good on Saturday for Toronto, but the most dominant performance was turned in by Rick Porcello of the Detroit Tigers. Many Tigers fans were in attendance Friday and the ones closest to us were very excited at the chance to see Porcello. Why you ask? The Detroit Free Press calls the first round draft pick from '07 an uber prospect. Porcello was dominant in 2 innings of work, totally embarassing real major leaguers like David Eckstein, Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, and Frank Thomas.

Hitting Award:

Lyle Overbay and Joe Inglett were the only Jays to record two hits over the weekend, but the real story came from Pirates camp. Tampa Bay castoff Josh Wilson whose number 83 jersey more resembled a non-roster invitee than the actual non-roster player who took his original number from him (Doug Mientkiewicz and #16), went 2-3 with 3 RBI, a run scored, and a double. All of this came out of the #9 hole in the order.

Best Photograph:

This year the best photography was not generally the result of a picturesque spring training scene or a well timed close-up. Some of Tia's best shots were of wildlife encountered on the nature trail or on the pier. For its elusiveness and rarity, the Armadillo is the winner. Honestly, how often are you walking along when you encounter an armadillo foraging for grubs under the floor of the Floridian forest.

All of our pictures can be found in my Flickr archive. Tune back in next year!

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