Former D-backs pitcher Bronson Arroyo missed the sounds of Spring Training: the crack of the bat, the ball meeting the mitt. It’s easy to feel sentimental about the spring — especially when COVID-19 took away those opportunities.
“After 22 years in baseball, it’s easy to get nostalgic about February and March for me,” Arroyo says.
He’s returning to Arizona and Florida for Spring Training this year to perform as part of Innings Festival. It comes to Tempe Beach Park & Arts Park Saturday, February 25, and Sunday, February 26, and Raymond James Stadium Grounds in Tampa on Saturday, March 18, and Sunday, March 19.
Performers include Green Day, Weezer, the Black Crowes, the Offspring, the Pretty Reckless, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, the Glorious Sons, Heartless Bastards and Annie DiRusso on Saturday and Eddie Vedder, Marcus Mumford, the Revivalists, Mt. Joy, the Head and the Heart, Umphrey’s McGee, Magic City Hippies, Paris Jackson and Hazel English on Sunday.
Baseball players making appearances are Ryan Dempster, Jake Peavy, Randy Johnson, Dontrelle Willis, Grady Sizemore, Kevin Mitchell, Bret Boone, Vinny Castilla, Matt Williams, Edgar Martinez and Mike Cameron.
“It’s going to be great to get out there and play some music,” Arroyo says. “I did the one in Tampa, and I played just a couple songs with (former players/musicians) Jake Peavy and Bernie Williams.
“I was also there as a baseball player, signing autographs, teaching pitching.”
When he was playing baseball, he couldn’t attend Innings Festival, as the days are brutal.
“A lot of time, Spring Training days beat you up miserably,” he says with a laugh. “They’re early days. You get to the park at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. You’re so used to getting to the park at 2 or 3 in the afternoon. It throws your body out of whack a little bit. You’re just starting to get in shape. They’re really running you hard as a pitcher. Those first three weeks of Spring Training are exhausting.”
Arroyo played for the D-backs in the 2014 season after signing a two-year, $23.5 million contract.
On June 16, Arroyo was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his career, after leaving a start early against the Dodgers with an elbow injury. Three weeks later, he had Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL, forcing him out for the remainder of the 2014 season. In 14 starts of the 2014 year, he went 7-4 with a 4.08 ERA.
“When I think about the D-backs days, I think about my arm hurting the whole time,” he says. “I only had seven wins before the All-Star Break in 2014. I always felt like it was an uphill grind. I felt like I always had to prove myself. It was a rough season for me.
“They were the friendliest organization to fans and players. The guys who worked in the clubhouse — (strength coach) Nate Shaw and (director of sports medicine) Ken Crenshaw — were great. I was frustrated. It was the first time I was hurt.”
For the last two decades, Arroyo has regularly performed around the country, usually playing sets of cover songs to raise funds for philanthropic causes. Now, after his retirement from baseball, Arroyo shares his own music with the world for the first time.
He and his band, The ’04, will release the album “Some Might Say” on February 17.
“Some Might Say” features 10 original songs filled with hard-driving guitars, powerful choruses and vivid, observational lyrics penned and sung by Arroyo.
“The theme throughout the album is my optimism for life,” Arroyo says. “I’ve always been about being present and enjoying the moment. The glass is always half full — that’s the thread that ties all the songs together.”
Though he doesn’t appear on the album, Arroyo credits his friend Vedder with playing an important role in the record’s creation.
“I played him the demos, some which were still really raw, and he went through every single song critiquing and adding little notes to my lyric sheets. Afterward, he was like, ‘Hey, man — you got something here.’”
The ’04 band features A-list musicians including Jamie Arentzen (who also plays with Miley Cyrus, Butch Walker & American Hi-Fi), bassist Ed Valauskas (Juliana Hatfield, Gravel Pit), guitarist Clint Walsh (Dwarves, the Motels) and drummer Eric Gardner (Gnarls Barkley, Tom Morello). Legendary Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes also makes an appearance on the track “Side FX.”
At Innings, Arroyo guarantees a good time.
“We’re playing the whole album and a couple of covers to fill a bit of time,” he says. “It’s a pretty rockin’, high-energy set. It’s full-on rock ’n’ roll. There’s nothing soft about it. Most of the songs are riff-driven. It’s a little loud ad a lot of energy. That’s what rock ’n’ roll is all about.”
Innings Festival
WHEN: Saturday, February 25, and Sunday, February 26
WHERE: Tempe Beach Park and Arts Park, 80 W. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe
COST: Tickets start at $112 for one-day pass
INFO: inningsfestival.com/arizona
