This baseball junkie was in need of a fix. After all, it's still three weeks until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. So, we read about alumni day for Arizona State University baseball and were off to Packard stadium. Sunny skies, baseball...what else can a fan want?

ASU is ranked in the 20s this year according to the pre-season polls. It was our first trip to see the Sun Devil baseball team and we will be back for a "real game." The players signed autographs before the event, and featured here is JC transfer Brian Flores, projected to be a high draft pick in the next few years. There was a home run derby, and for the Sun Devils the contestants were Ike Davis and Brett Wallace--both projected to be high draft choices in '07 and '08. After the four players took their swings, out came recent ASU star Andre Ethier (in street clothes) to aim for the fences. We first met Ethier in Fall League '05 when he was with the Oakland A's. At the end of Spring Training, the A's traded him to the Dodgers for Milton Bradley (yes, the kook). In case you missed it, Ethier was a runner-up for NL Rookie of the Year.

Regarding the Sun Devils baseball team: we will be back and hope to see them in Omaha at the College World Series. We should be there.

You sure know which sports team rates here in Arizona: last year, the Phoenix Suns pre-season fan-fest had folks packed like sardines at Desert Ridge Marketplace while today, the Arizona Diamondbacks had only a small handful of fans at their autograph table inside Jillian's at Desert Ridge.

Featured here are firstbaseman-turned-broadcaster Mark Grace and Chris Young, the team's star outfielder of the future.