Garth's Day at Spring Training - March 11, 1999
Thursday, March 11, 1999. Associated Press

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) - Here's how it went for Garth Brooks on Thursday at spring training for the San Diego Padres:

COUNTRY CAMPER: Brooks returned to camp after spending five days in Los Angeles with his mother, Colleen, who had a cancerous spot removed from her mouth on Tuesday. He promptly got into his first real ``A'' game, striking out as a pinch-hitter in the Padres' 14-8 win over San Francisco.

LOW NOTE: Pretty much the whole at-bat. Facing veteran right-hander Julian Tavarez, Brooks jumped away from an inside fastball, took a slider for a strike, took a bad swing and miss at a slider and struck out on a fastball. He's 0-for-9 this spring, counting two intrasquad games, a ``B'' game, Thursday's game and a non-counting ``A'' game.

ON THE RECORD: ``This is the first day I looked like a celebrity trying to play baseball,'' Brooks said. ``My mom is great, she's here with me, and I should be thankful. But damn, I didn't have a good at-bat, and that bothers me. I don't have any hits, but other than my first at-bat in an intrasquad, this is the first bad one.''