Whether it’s a cold night in Seattle or oven-like Arizona, baseball is bliss

As many of you have figured out, when the Mariners hit the road, I don’t. Expenses being what they are, The Herald doesn’t travel with the Mariners — at least while they’re the non-contending Mariners.

We do spend the duration of spring training in Arizona and have covered every playoff game in the history of the franchise home and away. And, in 2007, we were prepared to travel the final month with the Mariners until they dive-bombed that plan (along with their division hopes) by losing 13 times in a 14-game stretch in late August/early September.

Because we aren’t on the road with the team, I’m reluctant to offer much in the way of insight or opinion because I believe it’s important to base those thoughts on what I observe with my eyes and hear with my ears from the players, coaches and management. Forming an opinion based on what you see on TV or from a stats sheet often doesn’t tell the whole story.

So the blog gets fairly quiet when I’m not around the team to get a true feel for what’s going on.

That doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention to baseball, and the past two weeks are an example. While the Mariners were on that 12-game road trip, I:

Lived and died through my St. Louis Cardinals, who appear to be in a race to the wire with Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central. Easing the anxiety is the fact that Cincinnati pitching coach Bryan Price, formerly with the Mariners and one of the quality people in the game, is part of this Reds resurgence.

Spent the past several days in Arizona, mostly to enjoy time with family and get a first peek (via ultrasound image) at two precious twin girls.

Learned once again that it’s a dry heat in Arizona, but when it reaches 112 degrees and you spend three hours in it on the golf course, it doesn’t matter how dry it is. It’s not a pretty sight when you’re standing on the tee of a dogleg right when your sweaty palms are about to uncork a duck-hook left. Want cold water out of the tap? Turn on the faucet and let the water run until … oh … October.

Couldn’t resist the opportunity to get my baseball fix.

I spent part of Tuesday morning in Peoria with right-handed pitcher Taijuan Walker, the Mariners’ first draft pick in June who’s playing for the rookie-level Peoria Mariners in the Arizona League. Walker is a quiet, polite 18-year-old who has been impressive in his brief time on the mound since the draft. Here’s the story on Walker that ran in Wednesday’s sports section. Since that story ran, Walker pitched a scoreless inning Wednesday night, walking one.

Also spent some time with Andy Bottin, the Peoria Mariners’ manager and one of the best people you’ll meet in baseball. He’s a Camano Island resident who’s not only skipper of the ballclub but also a father figure to the young players there, many living away from home for the first time and several new to this country. Andy has been working at the Peoria Sports Complex (and living across the street at the Hampton Inn) since early March, and he’s looking forward to coming home for a few weeks in September before the fall instructional program begins down there.

And last night, while returning from dinner, I noticed the lights were on at the Reds’ spring training complex in Goodyear, Ariz. Naturally, I talked my son into stopping and dragged him, his wife and my wife into the 100-degree night air to watch a couple of innings.

This was hardly an Arizona League game with players we might see in the big leagues in a few years. It was an adult-league baseball game with 70-some-mph fastballs, 6-some-second sprints from home to first base and the outfield warning tracks necessary for only the jackrabbits that might be in the neighborhood.

But still, it was baseball and that made for a perfect final night of the trip.