Pushing the Limits of Baseball Fan Psycho-hood

Is it possible to be too much of a baseball psycho? In case making my own Spring Training shirts (using photos from the previous year) wasn't goofy enough, I think I set a new limit this year. After posting hundreds of my Astros photos on the Photo Album of AstrosFanInExile.com, I wanted to find something else to do with the photos. Here's what I came up with: Vanity baseball cards. No, not baseball cards featuring me - baseball cards with my Astros Fan in Exile logo, and my own photos of the players from Spring Training last year. I made 32 different cards, and printed 5 sets of them on card stock.

Now the question is: What do I do with 5 sets of home-made baseball cards?

As I am writing this, I am listening to the Astros get clobbered by the Indians in their first Spring Training game on MLB's Gameday Audio. Clearly they are saving their good stuff for tomorrow's home opener - when I will be there! After all these months of waiting, my trip to Spring Training is just one day away!

Next posting from Kissimmee!

A Girl's Guide to Packing for Spring Training

Now that I have my game tickets, flights, hotel, and rental car, it's time for the next annual Spring Training prep event: Deciding what to pack. This really distills down to two hard questions: (1) Which of my many Astros caps to take to Kissimmee this year? (2) What Astros-themed shirts to pack?

Caps: I'm not sure how many Houston baseball caps I own. I don't collect them exactly; they just seem to have multiplied over the years, hiding in closets and drawers all over the house. I have the usual authentic regulation game caps, as well as retro ones (Houston Buffs, Colt 45s, hideous orange, etc.) and special commemoratives (World Series). But for some reason, for Spring Training I usually end up wearing my Hebrew Astros cap, a gift from a friend who found it at Cooperstown. I think part of the attraction is the likelihood that no one else at Osceola County Stadium will be wearing the same cap. (It's a girl thing.) What I never wear in Kissimmee: Astros Spring Training hats. I only buy two items in the stadium gift shop every year: A new Spring Training hat (about $25) and a Media Guide ($10). I never ever wear these hats - they are all still in their plastic bags. But I devour the Media Guide.

Shirts: Before Spring Training 2006, I created three home-made Spring Training T-shirts, using pictures I'd taken the previous year - two featuring Jeff Bagwell and one with Craig Biggio. I'm thinking of making a new one for this year - maybe something with pictures of the few Astros who remain from last year, and on the back a plug for my website - www.AstrosFanInExile.com. I also have two new shirts, both gifts: One is a custom Astros pinstripe jersey, imprinted with my name and the family good-luck number: LILLY 18. (The number "18," written in Hebrew, spells "life" - as in, Still Alive in October.) That shirt was a birthday gift from my brother Joel, a Mariners fan. The other is a Craig Biggio T-shirt that was a give-away at a game on of his Goodbye Games last year, sent to me by a friend of my Aunt Mimi's. The friend is neither size XL nor a baseball fan, and had heard of my affection for the team from my aunt. With a week-long stay in Kissimmee to pack for, these all go in the suitcase.

I have learned over the years that you can buy nearly anything you want or need in the Orlando area, so you might as well pack light. Aside from the hats and shirts, I really only need to pack the essentials: game tickets, camera and spare battery, laptop, and my Astros Spring Training Notebook, full of notes and stats. But I'm thinking about taking the Jeff Bagwell bobblehead this year - he's never been to Spring Training.

Spring Training Tickets!

Spring Training starts for Astros pitchers and catchers in 11 days, but for me the fun is still 26 days away. I spent much of January worrying about getting good tickets (especially competing with New Yorkers for that Yankees game) before the presale password miraculously showed up in my email. But not to worry - I got seats for most of the 5 games in my old favorite spot: Section 103.

The first year that I went to Spring Training, I went online the first day of ticket sales, and clicked on "Best Available," and what came up was Section 103 behind third base. Looking at the stadium map, it wasn't very obvious to me that there was anything too good about Section 103. But when I got to the stadium for the first game, I saw the charm of these seats - they are right next to the bench and cooler that makes up the Astros' bullpen.

Sitting in section 103 - especially in the front rows - you get a great closeup view of the players. Before the game, they will be just a few feet away, stretching and sprinting, getting a drink from the cooler on the bench, greeting friends from the opposing team. The starting pitcher will be warming up on the bullpen mound, with the pitching coach watching behind him.

Little kids run up to the low wall separating fans from players, waving baseballs, begging for autographs - and sometimes they get lucky.

During the game, the relievers will be sitting right in front of you, close enough that you can eavesdrop on their conversations. They sometimes make funny comments about the other players. My first year at Spring Training, Brad Lidge sat down right in front of me; I was so excited, I called my son Josh in New York to tell him.

From Section 103, with a decent telephoto lens, you can get terrific pictures of right-handed pitchers and lefty batters. In past years, I've had a great view of Mansolino doing his third-base dance, but he'll be gone this year, along with most everyone else on the old team. I guess the Biggio youngsters, with their Number 7 jerseys, will be gone with their retired dad this year too.

Last year, somehow, I managed to get the honor of buying Spring Training tickets two whole days before general sales began. When I clicked on Best Available, the seats that came up were right behind home plate. They were amazing seats, undoubtedly. Drayton McLane was sitting just a few feet away. Once I figured out how to manually focus my camera (the autofocus was confused by the netting), I got terrific pictures of pitchers and batters. But I kind of missed sitting down by the bullpen, eavesdropping on the relievers. I wasn't sorry at all when Section 103 came up as the Best Available this year.