Spring Training with Ava
I can already hear the questions pouring in! “Didn’t you already interview Ava?!” Au contraire, dear reader, I have multiple friends named Ava! Allow me to introduce you to this very important person and close, personal friend of mine, Ava Strichartz! With the end of my capstone project in sight, I have been so excited to wrap up with a visit to a Spring Training game with Ava! In my humble opinion, Spring Training is THE quintessential Phoenix stop, hopefully providing some insight into my FINAL interview and review of the project!
Ava’s hidden gem, and I guess mine too, is Spring Training! Though it’s not very hidden, it’s still a super fun, Arizona-specific, annual event. I know they also train in Florida, but the Cactus League is wayyy more fun. Ava and I have attended many regular season DBacks games over the years, but this was our first Spring Training game together! I got us free tickets to the Rockies @ Brewers game at American Family Fields of Phoenix. I’ve been to a ton of Spring Training games, but I had never been to this park before! It’s over in West Phoenix, a bit of a smaller park, but very fun! It has everything you would need; and they have Coke — not Pepsi, so definitely a win in my book. Neither of us cared for either team, so it was just fun to enjoy the weather and spend some time together. I do like the Rockies, but it’s hard to cheer for a team that’s so… bad. They actually did pretty well! Over the last few years, I have learned a lot about baseball, and I really enjoy going out to a game every now and then. It is America’s pastime, after all. I got super invested in 2023 when the Diamondbacks made it to the World Series. Though I’m probably not as in touch with all the DBacks happenings as Ava is, it’s still a lot of fun to talk to her about baseball and catch up on a warm summer day over a hot dog and some nice, Chase Field air conditioning.
As far as Spring Training goes, the Cactus League was founded in 1947, with the Cleveland Indians and New York Giants moving their teams out to Tucson. Since then, 15 MLB teams have made their way out to the desert, with 10 different stadiums sitting across the Valley. There’s also Florida’s Grapefruit League, also hosting 15 teams. I would argue, however, that Arizona’s Spring Training is much more iconic. With some of our best weather of the year, people from across the country make the journey out here to catch some of the preseason action.
Ava has lived in Scottsdale for her whole life, but moved away last fall to attend the UNC Chapel Hill in North Carolina. She’s majoring in Public Policy AND Political Science, and she’s heavily involved as a new member of her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega. Ava and I got to know each other over many years spent together at Shadow Mountain (she was also a DAAPS student!); and she got me involved in a lot of the activities I still participate in today! I have lots of memories with Ava, but I’ll name a few of my favorites. First, and probably most on topic, are our many DBacks games together. I’ve lost count of how many we’ve gone to, but it’s so much fun to just pop down in the afternoon/evening to watch a little baseball and catch up in the bleachers. In case you didn’t know, students can get discounted, last-minute tickets! If you sign up for their messages, you’ll get sent a link to buy bleacher/upper-deck seats for a great deal. Additionally, Ava and I have spent countless hours working together on the yearbook staff! It’s sad not having her as a collaborator this year, but she's given me great advice as I’ve taken over her role of editor-in-chief. One of my favorite things about working on the yearbook is going out and taking pictures at random school events, and Ava was kind enough to join me at a soccer game while she was back for Winter break.
As for our actual, structured interview, I kept it pretty short. Ava thinks that Phoenix, and Arizona as a whole, is one big hidden gem. It’s easy for people to brush off Arizona, especially if they’ve never been, but once they visit, they realize what they’re missing. “Arizona has so much to offer, yet we still have the benefit of it being a bit of a secret!” Ava’s answer has been a very thought provoking one for me. Phoenix is a bit of a smaller market, whether that be media, shopping, entertainment, etc., but not to the point that we’re overlooked. Does that make sense? Like, Taylor Swift started her world tour HERE! Singers and brands will have pop-up experiences here. I guess Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the country. What I’m getting at is that it sure doesn’t feel that way! An interesting dynamic, but an advantageous one for sure.
We were even able to test our theory! One of Ava’s friends from North Carolina came to visit, and loved it here!
I was so glad to be able to catch a game with Ava, even if we didn’t really care about the teams that were playing. Recently, I got some student tickets for the DBacks home opener, and I was bummed that I couldn’t just call Ava up and join her at the game. It is such a treat that we can still FaceTime each other whenever possible. I miss her so much, but I love watching all the cool things she’s able to do at UNC!
If Ava were on a deserted island, she would bring Skegss and Jack Johnson’s discographies with her.
