Dateline – Phoenix: I’m in the Valley of the Sun for three more days. Because the Arizona Fall League (AFL) does not play games on Sundays, my plan was to see games on Saturday, October 22nd and Monday, October 24th. However, I’m having such a blast with the sisters that I decided to take Saturday off to spend more time with them.

Monday, October 25th.

My final Arizona Fall League (AFL) game was a rematch of the teams I saw the previous Thursday, when the Scottsdale Scorpions tangled with the Peoria Javelinas. It’s a humid day in the Phoenix area, with gray skies and a stillness to the air. In fact, the air was so heavy that I’m thinking nothing is going over the fences today. If I didn’t know any better I’d say that rain was on the way, too. I went to Peoria Stadium well armed this time, with a great lunch of corn-flake chicken and veggies courtesy of sister Nancy. Way to go, Sis! I found a spot beneath the shade of the grandstand and waited for some friends to arrive.

This part of the story actually started the previous Friday at Surprise Stadium, when the cosmic roll of the dice smiled on me and put Irwin Bernstein in the row next to mine. After a few moments one of us made a comment, chatter soon turned to conversation and a friendship was born. Irwin is a retiree who’s been a lifelong baseball fan. I’m always thrilled to find a kindred spirit. He went to New York Giants games as a kid (Ha! take that, Yankees fans!) and sees about ten AFL games a year. Before he left he told me he was bringing his wife to Monday’s game, so we planned to find each other. Shortly after I finished my lunch, I saw Irwin and his charming wife Alice and was pleased when they joined me. We’ll be hearing more from them down the line.

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Going into the game, I was looking forward to a second look at Gary Brown and Joe Panik, so I can satisfy my San Francisco Giants customers back home. However, Brown was not in the lineup. What’s with these people, don’t they know I’m traveling back to San Francisco tomorrow and have run out of chances to see him a second time this fall? Harumph! But I let it go to have a good time, engage in interesting conversation and watch the action at hand. Here’s a few thoughts on some players of note:

Joe Panik, San Francisco Giants: Since watching him on Friday, I’ve read up on Panik and see him as a blue-chip prospect. This belief was solidified when in his first at bat, with a man on second and two out, he deposited a deep home run ball into the right field bullpen. Heads up out there fellas, it looks like our boy didn’t pay attention to the afternoon’s weather report. In his second at bat, with two outs and a man on first, Panik smacked a ground single between first and second that danced happily into right field. In his third at bat, in the bottom of the fifth, he flied out to center field, stranding two runners while making the third out of the inning. He walked in his last at bat.

It was another matter with the glove, however. In the bottom of the second, a rocketed, one-hop ground ball ate Panic up and went into right field; the official scorer ruled it an error. Those of us in the grandstand weren’t so sure. I’ve been around long enough to know that if this one occurred in AT&T Park that a home-town official scorer would have ruled it a hit. In the bottom of the fifth, a man on first attempted to steal second, the catcher’s throw went in on an awkward hop and went right past him.

Mike Trout, California Angels of Anaheim: This summer, near the end of his third year in professional baseball, Trout was called up to the Angels where he played in forty games. He’s a gifted athlete who can play all three outfield positions, but if I know Angels Manager Mike Scoscia like I think I do he’ll put young Mr. Trout in center field where his blazing speed and plus arm will serve the team best. Today he stuck out looking in his first at bat. In his second effort, he blasted a solid, line-drive single to center, moving to third base and then scoring on successive sacrifice flies.

Wilfredo Tovar, New York Mets: He has power but needs time to develop into a more complete hitter. His only notable appearance of the day with the bat came in the bottom of the fifth when he led off the inning by lashing a solid single into right-center field. He advanced from first to third base on a ground single between second & shortstop. I’ve seen him on the base paths several times now, and speed is not part of his game, so don’t expect a base stealer. But he is an excellent defensive shortstop with gold glove potential who covers balls hit to either side of him equally well, releases the ball quickly and makes very accurate throws.

Erik Turgeon, New York Mets: is a right hander who was put in the game to pitch the bottom of the eighth. I looked at his stats before I wrote this and learned that in fifty-one games for Double AA Binghamton (Eastern League) this year he had a 5.33 ERA, which unfortunately means he’s on track for Citi Field.  He got bombed in his one Triple AAA appearance this year in Buffalo (International League). His fastball topped out at 90-91, so he’s going to need some excellent secondary pitches. Today he got the first two batters out on routine grounders, so I’m thinking that when he does get batters out, he’s a ground ball pitcher. Then he gave up a bases empty homer run to deep left-center field, roughly four-hundred and twenty feet from the plate. The next batter flied out to center for the third out.

The Wrap Up: So my week in Phoenix and my three-game view of the Arizona Fall League came to a close. I heartily recommend these games to anyone who can attend. Spring Training is great for its convivial atmosphere, getting autographs, talking to the players and basking in the sun after what is for many a dreary winter. Plenty of people say it’s a terrific time and I’m not here to disagree. However, I think a lot of the same people would enjoy the fall baseball this league offers. I now look on Spring Training and the Arizona Fall League as the bookends to the baseball year here in the United States. Looking back on my experience, it was great to see my sisters, watch some games that featured several can’t miss prospects and make new friends.