Spring training is bucket-list must for baseball fans

Of all our trips to spring training, the 2010 camp has been our best. It was that trip when, at that time, our 10-year-old granddaughter Kerrigan became a baseball fan. It was only natural that she would be a fan, as our son-in-law Greg is a true sports fan, especially baseball. Over the past years, Greg and Kerrigan, now 22 and graduating from Boise State University in May, have been to 26 ball parks across the country. In fact, the two of them are bummed that an upcoming trip to the East Coast for interviews with prospective graduate schools is later this month, and not April, as they wanted to visit the Field of Dreams Park in Iowa.

It was on that 2010 trip that Kerrigan learned the difficulty of getting players’ autographs. Both she and her sister, Natalie, would struggle through lines of people outside Scottsdale Stadium waiting to get autographs of players. Through the years she mastered the art of getting signatures, but it was that first year she will always treasure. Marian had walked Kerrigan over to the crowd, but couldn’t push through. There was a gentleman standing along the curb watching all the action. The man walked over to Marian and started a conversation.

The man asked Marian if the little girl in the pink hat was her granddaughter. He said, “My son is hoping to break into the Majors this year with the San Francisco Giants. If she doesn’t mind getting an autograph from a young player, I will have my son sign a ball for her.”

Little did we know that player was Brandon Crawford. The gentleman was Mike Crawford, Brandon’s dad. Since that day, Brandon has been Kerrigan’s No. 1 favorite Giant.

Writing for the Pacifica Tribune over those years, I encouraged local fans to share their spring training story with Tribune readers. Readers submitted pictures of their trips. With spring training opening last week, I invite anyone who goes to the Giants training camp to send pictures of your visit to the Tribune. I will use selected photos in future Horacescope columns. Your photos, along with a brief story of your visit, must be baseball-related, i.e., showing you at one of the Arizona stadiums, a Giants player or a Scottsdale landmark. Please identify yourself in the picture. Email your pictures to me at horaceh1@yahoo.com by April 5. 

While I didn’t go to Arizona this year, daughter Kam and Greg did sneak off to Scottsdale to attend several World Baseball Classic games this week.

Little League tales: Bill Hooper was 10 years old when his father registered him to play Little League baseball in Pacifica. That was June 22, 1957, four months before the city of Pacifica was incorporated.

On Sunday, April 30, at the Pacifica Coastside Museum, Hooper will join several Little League players and coaches to talk about the history of Little League in our community. Girls softball will also be a topic of discussion as leaders of the Bobby Sox Softball movement in the community will join Hooper.

I will be moderating a panel of local baseball historians to just talk baseball and hopefully enlighten the audience to the early days of playing the game of baseball in Pacifica. The program is hosted by the Pacifica Historical Society and is open to the public. And it’s free. The program begins at 2 p.m. The Pacifica Coastside Museum is located at 1850 Francisco Blvd.

The planning committee is currently looking for Little League and Bobby Sox memorabilia to display at the event. Anyone who can provide team flags, pennants, photos, etc., of the early baseball years in our community are encouraged to contact me at horaceh1@yahoo.com. The items will be displayed and returned to the owners. Anyone wishing to submit items should contact me prior to April 4.

Horace Hinshaw is the sports editor emeritus for the Pacifica Tribune.