Boys of Summer book Entry #35

June 20, 2004 - Dad
Phoenix, AZ

I met Mike O’Leary, who is a fellow Parkinsonian and very active in the Young Onset Parkinson community. We had a good turn out - about 42 fans. We had reporters and cameras from three t.v. stations. Bob and I were interviewed by all three. I met two Parkinsonians who had undergone deep brain surgery. They both felt it wa a valuable procedure that had improved the quality of their lives. It was good to see people with more advanced Parkinson’s symptoms doing so well.

I also met Mary Ann Sprinkle, our contact with National Parkinson Foundation. She is very warm and energetic. We will see her again in Miami. The ball game was a good one. The Diamondbacks lost to Tampa Bay, the 11th straight win for Tampa. We stayed in a Super 8 motel. Kristy, a friend of AnnaMaria’s, gave us a $50 gift certificate to the brew pub she manages. I slept well but not long.

Annamaria:

My first thought about the park was, “B.O.B.’s big!” I was really excited. We had a pre-party at Sliders. And that’s when I realized, Oh Shit! this is going to be pretty big. There were news people there!

I remember hanging back and watching Bob and Dan being interviewed. Bob is a charmer on that camera. We had a great turn out -- and I was really, really hopeful.

I loved meeting Mary Ann Sprinkle. She has warmth about her. She’s smart and sweet and just a wonderful, wonderful woman. Someone who I could have made friends with without this trip. And she looks like Parker Posey.

I had my best friend from Arizona with me and we had a really good time at the game. This was one of two games she would be meeting us at -- and donating twice! I sat between Kristy and Mary Ann and we had a great time. It was neat seeing other people with Parkinson’s -- it helped me know about who they were. Mike O’Leary (who coordinated the bulk of the Phoenix event) is great.

I love going to baseball games. I was interested in Randy Johnson because my Kristy has a thing for him -- saying how amazing he is. I remember thinking, why isn’t he with the Yankees if he’s that good? And Kristy was pissed because there was talk at that time that he might be going that way.

Park Number One (of 30): Bank One Ballpark

Tampa Bay 2, Arizona 1
WP: M. Hendrickson (5-5), LP: B. Webb (3-7)

Highlights of park #1, Bank One Ballpark:

Interview with Bob & Dan:

Bob:

The lemon and strawberry icees were particularly delicious. The game itself wasn’t that interesting -- wasn’t a bad game, just...not that great. I’d like to enjoy this Tampa Bay team (and I guess I better learn how to as we’re going to see them five more times!) as I like their manager, Lou Pinella. He always cracked me up during his tenure in Seattle. They had some great teams there, too. He seems a little rough and rugged, not afraid to get down in the dirt, the kind of manager you know, as a player, has your back. I like that.

I’d been here once before in 1998. I like the park all right -- I like the city of Phoenix quite a bit. The thing about the BOB is, it still feels like a mall to me. It doesn’t have that “baseball magic” to it. I can’t breathe it in. Just down the street at Papago Park, I’ve seen the A’s in their spring training facility and that felt pretty good. ‘Course, I was watching the A’s and, in theory, that makes me feel good about .615 percent of the time.

In fairness, I haven’t been to a game at the B.O.B. with the roof open (and with the sweltering temperatures down here in the summer time, maybe that’s a blessing).

Dad:
For a newer stadium it’s awful nice. The natural turf, the high ceilings, the ambiance, easy to park -- great price on parking. I enjoyed the game. Unfortunately the home team lost. It was a shame. I’d give them a “B”. I have a hard time giving it an A because you can’t see the sun. A B-Plus.

Bob:
I’d give them a solid B as well. I liked it but the indoors certainly hurts it a bit. And it’s a little sterile feeling. No knock on it, but it just doesn’t have the warmth of some of my other favorite parks we’ve seen before. Sometimes a little bit of that grime, and you can’t buy it you’ve got to earn it in order to have it. One of the things that made Old Milwaukee County great was it had that old grime.

Dad:
Absolutely. I agree it doesn’t have the old grime. Everything they did here though, was nice. B-Plus might be a stretch. Maybe a B.

A’s lost 5-3 to the Cubs - thppppt.
WP: C. Zambrano (8-2)   LP: B. Zito (4-4)

Annamaria:

Later on, we had great food at the New York Brewery compliments of Kristy (she’s a GM there). I arranged a Super 8 Motel for us to stay in. They’re all independently owned as it turns out. Their owner was very sweet and comp’d us two rooms for the night. They had good donuts.