A Grip on Sports: Spring training begins and that always brings back more than 50-year-old memories

A GRIP ON SPORTS • What would you give to be in Arizona right about now? And how much more would be on the table next week, when the temperatures around Spokane are supposed to drop into the single digits? The answer to the first is simple. Whatever it takes. The latter? Doesn’t matter. We would already be there.

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• Actually, the desire to be in the cactus state has nothing to do with the weather. OK, little to do with the weather. It has everything to do with what the warmer weather allows: baseball and spring training.

And In-n-Out burgers. But those would be just the icing on a cake we haven’t had on our plate in more than 50 years.

That’s how long it’s been since we’ve wandered south for spring training. And, back then, it wasn’t really south. More like east, to Palm Springs.

In the late 1960s, the Angels made their spring training home in the same place as Bob Hope and Dean Martin. The same place our dad had bought into a golf club on the ground floor, hoping to retire with Frank and Sammy and the rest of the Rat Pack. My dad never did. But he would visit – the club, not the celebrities – and take us along. Drive over from our Southern California home. Stay in a motel. Catch a few spring training games. And, for the only time in my life, catch a foul ball.

Bobby Knoop hit it. Autographed it for me after. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt. That’s all that’s still in our memory, though my dad used to have a picture of the two of us together, the ball in our hand, a smile on our face and a look of let’s-get-this-over-with on Knoop’s. Understandable. Though we don’t understand what happened to the photo over the years. Things get lost, even mementos you wish you could have forever.

Maybe that’s part of the reason we never returned to spring training as an adult. We were afraid it’s changed so much, our memories would be as outdated as the camera our dad held that day. The simpler answer, though, has to do with geography – it’s hard to drive from Spokane to Arizona in a day – and, well, life.

Kids come along. They take time. Have their life to live. February and March are busy. School, sports, whatever.

Then there is work. By the time the kids were self-sufficient, our job had morphed into one that required upmost concentration in those two months, as we followed Washington State basketball as the Cougars’ seasons wound down.

Retirement? We found a productive use of our winter time, one that bled into spring in such a profound way as to make it nearly impossible to head south for a week or two this time of year.

Excuses? Maybe. Probably.

It’s hard to recreate a time you remember so fondly. Our dad made a big production out of taking us to spring training back then. We didn’t pack at home and leave in the morning. Nope. He would send us off to school. Arrive a couple hours into the day, come to classroom door and tell the nun who was trying to get 30 Catholic kids to understand the meaning of confession he needed his son. He was taking him to Palm Springs for the rest of the week. He would be back Monday.

The jealousy was palatable. Nun’s shouldn’t have shown it so overtly, right? And the other kids? If looks could maim, we would still be walking with a limp. Instead, we gathered up our books and Pee Chee folders, put them in our Schwinn bookbag and headed out the door. To freedom. To sunshine. And to the game we loved.

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WSU: Speaking of baseball in Arizona, the Cougars opened their season there yesterday. Won 7-0 over Villanova in Peoria. Colton Clark has this story. … The women’s basketball team finished off a sweep of Oregon last night in Pullman, winning 64-57. The Ducks have lost six consecutive games. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, Friday night does belong to the women. The best game was in L.A., where third-ranked Stanford and Cameron Brink blocked No. 25 USC’s upset bid 50-47. … UCLA rolled over California 67-54 as well. … Wait, maybe the best game was in Tucson. Arizona, ranked 18th, handed No. 4 Utah its first loss in a month, 82-72. … Colorado came close to being Arizona State’s first conference win but the 21st-ranked Buffs’ late spurt lifted them to a 70-62 victory and into a tie for second with Utah in the standings. … Oregon State rallied late but couldn’t get past Washington. The Huskies won 64-59. … The eighth-ranked Arizona men will host Colorado, which has not been playing well. … Utah basically has to defeat Arizona State today to have NCAA hope. … Washington is giving a former player a well-deserved send-off. … In football news, The Athletic looks at key spring questions for each conference school. … Jon Wilner answers questions in the Mercury News, most having to do with conference expansion, TV and the like. … The dismissed Oregon football player will not be charged with a crime.

Gonzaga: Momentum is a fickle beast. The Zags will try to build some today in Malibu when they face also-ran Pepperdine (4 p.m., KHQ and Root). Jim Meehan has a preview and the key matchup. … Before that happens, though, Theo Lawson had to look back at the domination of Loyola Marymount on Thursday. … The women host Saint Mary’s today in the Kennel (2 p.m., SWX). Jim Allen has a preview. The Gaels are under new management as their longtime coach, Paul Thomas, was fired last month after an investigation of an undisclosed transgression. … The Zag baseball team took an early lead but No. 23 and host Texas Tech rallied for an 8-4 season-opening victory.

EWU: The Eagles can clinch at least regular season title tie today with a win over visiting Northern Colorado. Dan Thompson has this preview. … The football team has finished filling its coaching staff. Dan has that story as well. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, If Eastern wins and Montana State loses to Montana, the Eagles will be the outright champions. … The women play as well in Bozeman. … Weber State has a player who has come a long way. … In football news, Montana revamped its offensive coaching staff.

Whitworth: The Pirates defeated visiting Linfield 79-66 Friday night.

Preps: The first day of the Mat Classic was pretty much to form, as it often is. Madison McCord is in Tacoma and has two stories, one on the 4A, 3A and 2A tournaments and another on the smaller schools. … Dave Nichols stuck with basketball and has this coverage of Davenport’s state-berth clinching win over Tonasket. That story also covers the rest of the local action too. … The Coeur d’Alene girls will play for the Idaho 5A State title today after a 51-50 double-overtime win over Boise on Friday.

Chiefs: Two consecutive wins? When has that last happened? September, actually. Spokane won 4-3 in a shootout Friday night at Everett to put together back-to-back victories.

Seahawks: Did you see DK Metcalf’s blocked shot? His dunk? Both were part of his athletically impressive MVP performance during the NBA’s All-Star weekend. … Another assistant is headed to Tampa Bay.

Mariners: The star of stars for the M’s? Why Julio Rodriguez, of course. He’s in camp and the place is buzzing. … Otherwise, spring training feels sort of normal.

Kraken: Do best what you do best. That’s the message to Seattle’s players.

Sounders: It’s time for the season to begin. At least the players think so.

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• We were intrigued by this story. It’s as if Evil Knievel decided to race NASCAR. A modern version anyway. Until later …