Chicago Cubs - Spring Training...Mesa, Arizona

DATE:  03/29/2016 & 03/30/2016

SITE:  The Chicago Cubs – Spring Training

LOCATION:  2330 W. Rio Salado Parkway, Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS: 

Honestly, there wasn’t anything “historic” about our visit to watch the Chicago Cubs play during Spring Training. Dirk has been a long time Cubs fan and this was a great opportunity for us to take in a couple of games. He was pretty darn excited and I loved experiencing it with him.

 In 1876, the Cubs, then known as the Chicago White Stockings, were one of the original teams in the National League. In 1890, they were known as the Chicago Colts and finally becoming the Chicago Cubs in 1907.

The last time the Cubs won the World Series was in 1907 and 1908. The team has appeared in 7 World Series since than; losing each time. The Cubs have not won the World Series in 107 years, the longest championship drought of ANY North American professional sports team…meaning all sports, not just baseball.

There is a rivalry between the Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1885, a version of the World Series was played against the St. Louis Brown Stockings. They tied in 1885 and St. Louis won in 1886. This is often touted as the reason for the extreme rivalry that exists even today. Let me tell you…I’ve seen it first hand!

In 1916, the Cubs made the move from the “West Side Grounds” to “Weeghman Park”, where they still are located although it is now called Wrigley Field.

A funny story exists about a goat and a curse. I guess in 1945, a person brought a goat to a game but was eventually thrown out because of the stench. He was said to have uttered “The Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more”. True or not, there are people who believe in, and still talk about, the “curse”.

In 1886, the Chicago White Stockings held their first spring training camp in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The idea was to get the team ready for the season with practice and then utilizing the hot springs after. The team successfully won the pennant that year and other teams started showing up in Hot Springs.

 

Before settling in Mesa, Arizona, the Cubs also held spring training in New Orleans; Champaign, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, French Lick, Tampa, Pasadena, Long Beach, Scottsdale and Catalina Island.

From 1979 to 1996, the Cubs trained and played at the original Hohokam Stadium until it was demolished. The rebuilt Hohokam Stadium housed the Cubs from 1997 to 2013. The Cubs established records for both single game attendance and overall season attendance.

The citizens of Mesa, by ballot measure, voted to finance a new facility to house spring training for the Cubs in order to keep the Cubs in Mesa and the dollars flowing from the tourists who flock there each year. Initially called Wrigleyville in the plans, the field opened as “Cubs Park” in 2014.

For their $99 million dollars, Mesa got a promise from the Cubs to stay 30 years with an option for 50. If the Cubs were to leave before the deal is through, they must pay $1 million for each missed year.

The name was changed to “Sloan Park” in 2015 after a naming rights deal with the ballpark.

The park is really beautiful. The facility, the largest spring training facility in MLB, has a capacity for 15,000 fans and the two days we were there? They filled them. As an aside, it was announced that the Cubs had the largest attendance of any MLB team in spring training this year.

We were able to see the Cubs beat the Oakland A’s; 9 to 5 and the Colorado Rockies; 10 to 0.

Dirk swears I’ll be a Cubs fan and darn it if I don’t know more about this baseball team than any others. 

By the way, Dirk has found a particular song on the jukebox at the Pub he hangs out with friends at. The song, called “Go Cubs Go”, isn’t all that popular, as you can imagine, in the midst of St. Louis Cardinals territory. Dirk takes a lot of enjoyment playing that song. In fact, because his phone is hooked up to the jukebox, he was able to play the song once when he was at home watching a Cubs win.

London Bridge - Lake Havasu City, Arizona

DATE:  July 10, 2015

HISTORICAL SITE:  London Bridge

LOCATION:  1550 London Bridge Rd., Lake Havasu City, Mohave Co., Arizona

"London Bridge   Opened by The Right Honorable The Lord Mayor of London Alderman Sir Peter Studd G.B.E., M.A.D.Sc.   in the presence of The Honorable Jack Williams Govenor of Arizona   October 10, 1981

Robert P. McCullough Sr.   Founder   Lake Havasu City

C.V. Wood Jr.  Master Planner   Lake Havasu City"

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS: 

Dirk and I got into Lake Havasu City about mid-day and it's freaking hot. Certainly not as hot as when Dana and Ron visited a couple of weeks ago where it was still over 100 at 9:00pm, but definitely hot enough.

Despite the fact that I was born and raised in Los Angeles, I have never been to Lake Havasu. I wanted to put my feet in the lake so I could say I was there. I think we were out of the car maybe 15 minutes when I wanted back in the air conditioning.

 

I've wanted to see London Bridge for a long time but just never got around to it. This was not our most direct route from Mesa but if not now...when?

So…How did the London Bridge, the same one that spanned the Thames, get to...of all places...Arizona?

The bridge that went over the River Thames was actually several bridges. It is said there has been a London Bridge for nearly 2,000 years. Romans, Danes, Saxons, Vikings, invaders and natives alike had a hand in the building and tearing down of several of the earlier bridges.

The first stone bridge was built circa 1200. Disaster struck in 1212 when a group of people were stuck on the bridge with fires on either side. Many died by fire.

It was customary between 1305 and 1660 to display the heads of traitors on spikes at the southern gateway. The head of William Wallace (as Mel Gibson said “Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!”)  was the first such “traitor” to be displayed.

In 1623, another fire struck the bridge and burned 43 houses nearby. The bridge was falling apart; the people were moving away and something had to be done.

In 1657, the bridge was partially rebuilt and remained that way until 1831. A new bridge was built with granite and had 5 high arches.

 

The new bridge was immediately busy and then a new kind of traveler came…the commuter. Traffic increased and the bridge was widened in 1903.

By 1924, the bridge was sinking on one side. It had been designed for horse drawn carriages, not the weight of an ever increasing number of automobiles.

In 1962, it was found that London Bridge WAS indeed falling down. 

In 1968, the city of London put the bridge up for sale and Robert McCulloch, found of Lake Havasu City bought it for $2.4 million.

To the tune of another $7 million, the bridge was numbered, taken apart and shipped to the U.S.

In 1968, the then mayor of London visited Arizona and placed the corner stone.

It was completed in 1971 but not over water…the land below was dredged out and flooded. Today, it is one of the biggest draws to the area.

As Dirk told me…”we kicked their asses and then took their bridge”