Arizona is very different than California. I go to school in LA, and there politeness is measured by your ability to ignore other people. You walk into a room, people look at you, then they go back about their business as if you don't exist, and that's supposed to be courteous. It's like, at least they're not telling you how they really feel about you.

In Arizona, everyone is happy and pleased to meet you all the time. It sort of feels like Arizona has taken on all the edenic qualities California is supposed to have but really lost decades ago. People feel blessed to be in the sun, and they just want to share their good mood with everyone. Spring training is a nice microcosm of this attitude.

You walk up to the stadium - a small, quaint stadium that fits ten thousand fans maybe - and you're greeted by a smiling usher, someone from Chicago probably, who says something like "Howdy." Who doesn't like a sincere howdy?

Then when you get in, all the fans are in heaven. Every seat is a great seat, and autographs and foul balls are easy to come by. The players even seem different. Usually, baseball players are the rudest, most ornery professional athletes. Here, they're like little leaguers again. The sport actually feels like a game - what a concept.

Even the old-time baseball guys, the ones that have lost the joy of the game long ago, can't help but lighten up here in Arizona. Here's what I mean. After the Giants lost to the Mariners two days ago, I got to walk on to the field with my dad for the post-game interview with Bruce Bochy. We walked to the dugout, and Boch was sitting at the end of the bench by himself, wearing a hat and sunglasses, looking tuned out and irritated that he had to deliver probably his millionth post game interview. His whole demeanor felt very big league-esque, certainly not in the spirit of Arizona.

But as the interview went on Boch warmed up. It was as if the Spring Training Vibe took ahold of him despite his best efforts to ignore it. He took off his hat and sunglasses, ran his fingers through his hair, crossed his legs, and relaxed. He even chuckled a little bit with the reporters. He showed us a side of himself that probably only exists in Arizona. I doubt those reporters will get the bare-faced cross-legged version of Boch in San Francisco.