A very long day. Let's recap.
Game 1 - Orioles vs. Marlins @ Jupiter
Small crowd, mostly O's fans and Cards fans with nothing to do for the day (Cardinals, who share Roger Dean Stadium with the Marlins were on the other coast in Ft. Myers losing to the Red Sox).
A few changes at Roger Dean Stadium since I was last there. Gates now open 90 minutes before the game (11:30am for a 1:05 game) instead of 2 hours pre-game. So there's no chance to see the home team take BP. They also changed the concessionaire, so the food is different. I was looking forward to one of my favorites - a cherry snow cone. That wasn't there. The hot dogs weren't that good (it actually had a beer-like taste to it).
Those things aside, it was a slow moving game. I left at 2:30pm after only 3 1/2 innings. O's weren't great about autographs, and I didn't look much to the other side of the field where the Marlins were. I did get Jeff Conine (I think it was him. he's not on any roster, but the signature looks like his name) after doing an interview for a sports talk station in the concourse after Marlins BP. And I got an O's prospect Matt Wieters who signed for a good long time in their dugout after their BP.
The entire time that I was there, my thought process revolved around getting around the stadium to take pictures and what time to leave the game to head to Tradition Field.
The longer half of the day will come after sleep.
