Rio Rancho’s Joe Balistreri has made frequent trips to Arizona to see Cactus League baseball.

Last month, he headed west again, along with longtime buddy Rudy Goetz, who lives on the West Side. They spent seven days together.

“I’ve made, maybe, 10 trips. We almost go all the time together,” Balistreri said. “I got burned out with some of these guys over the past few years. My wife (Nancy) said you need to go.”

Longtime Rio Ranchoan Terry Hibler shows off an autographed baseball he obtained at Camelback Ranch last month. Hibler's wearing his commemorative Don Drysdale jersey.

So he went.

Terry Hibler, also of Rio Rancho, made one of his initial forays west on the last weekend of February.

Both were impressed with what they saw and how they were treated by the big-league ballplayers.

“I got 430 autographs, believe it or not,” Balistreri beamed. “I kicked ass down there. I got 190 Brewers autographs.”

Overall, he reported, “I thought the players were very cordial. (Texas outfielder) Josh Hamilton, the guy that was on drugs, was unbelievable. He talked to us, signed for everybody — then asked, ‘Is there anybody else I need to sign?’

“I haven’t gone down there for a long time because I didn’t like the way things were going, the way they weren’t signing,” he said.

Balistreri said he visited the Rangers’ complex in Surprise, the Brewers in Maryvale, the Giants in Scottsdale and the Padres and Mariners in Peoria.

“The weather was great. The only team that was tough was the Giants.

“A lot of these guys say, ‘I’ll be back, I’ll be back.’ Trevor Hoffman was really nice. He said, ‘I’ll be back, I promise I’ll be back.’ And he was.

“I can’t think of anything that was negative,” he said.

Well, maybe.

“The Giants complex wasn’t as accessible,” he said.

“Rudy was telling me how hard it was to get autographs — one, two at the most – but even (Jake) Peavy, anything you gave him, he signed,” he said, cautioning others that while this all seems like fun, it’s not that easy.

“People don’t realize how much work this is,” he said. “We left the stadium, went to car and ate a sandwich. (Later), we hung around a timeshare, went to the hot tub or pool to get some rays. I got a nice suntan.”

Retired since last year from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Balistreri spends a lot of time at Isotopes Park, chasing down autographs. Although many collectors can’t wait to sell their signed cards on eBay, Balistreri won’t do that.

“These Brewers will go in my albums — I’ve got eight of just Brewers cards. The rest go into my inventory,” he explained. “I do not sell cards. Cards are fun but they’re not a priority. It’s so nice to be among the teams you like, you know. It’s (fun) just seeing some of the old guys that I enjoyed watching as a kid.”

Balistrei said he and his wife have invited former big-league infielder Don Money and former pitcher Chris Bosio to their home for an Italian dinner when the two are here with Nashville in June; Money is the Sounds’ manager, Bosio is the team’s pitching coach.

Hibler, a lifelong Dodgers fan and even bigger fan of the late Don Drysdale, was also in Arizona in late February.

Hibler went to a few Dodgers games and managed to get manager Joe Torre’s signature on a baseball, albeit not on the sweet spot.

Hibler said the Dodgers’ skipper’s attention was on a young T-ball player who’d told Torre he was wearing his number, and as Torre chatted with the kid, he didn’t notice he was affixing his signature across the Rawlings logo, instead of the sweet spot.

Still, Hibler had a wonderful time at Camelback Ranch, the Dodgers’ “new” Dodger Town spring-training headquarters — their first spring in Arizona.

“I’ve got some nice photos of the park, Torre, (Tommy) Lasorda, (owner Frank) McCourt, opening national anthem,” Hibler said. “(My wife) Cindy and I went to the park Saturday for a preview so we had the lay of the land.  As you might imagine, they were doing a preview day for the employees.

“We soon found we could get free tickets to their ‘practice’ and got to the field. ‘Wow’ was the first word out of my mouth — absolutely beautiful,” he said. “We gave ourselves a private tour.  I should have gone upstairs as it was open but didn’t. Vinny (Scully, team broadcaster) was trying to find a way to shade himself and ordered a golf umbrella for opening day. Sun was an issue, both days.”

Hibler didn’t mind what he paid for ballpark food, he said.

“It was $27 for two burgers, a coke, a beer and a fry, about what you’d expect,” he said. “The food was great — hot and comparable to what we enjoy at the Isotopes games.  No Dodger dogs, though, and there were lots of fans upset about that.

“Home run dogs instead of Dodger dogs. What the heck is up with that?” Hibler joked. “I was able to get a Dodger dog in Florida but not in Arizona. Fans were not happy. At any rate, Saturday was awesome and really gave me a good feel for what I wanted to do on Sunday.”

Not all the ballplayers and coaches were good about signing, Hibler said.

“Soon, the Dodgers broke from that field and the pitchers went to the pitching area and hitters to the next field that was set up for batting practice,” he said, describing his day at the park on Sunday. “I went beyond the fence to shag some balls, to no avail. No big hitters when I was there.

“I have some pictures of (pitching coach Rick) Honeycutt working with (pitcher Chad) Billingsley,” Hibler continued. “They were working hard on his delivery.  Man, can those guys throw smoke when you’re up close and personal.

“They had the walkways roped off and a few autographs were given but they were pretty focused at that point. After practice, they again roped off the walkways and the guys made their way to the clubhouse,” he said. “Very cool.  Some talked with fans others didn’t. Cindy pushed me pretty hard to get in there and I have a ball full of autographs: DeWitt, Blake, Wade, Schlichting, Lucas May, Danny Ardoin and a few others I can’t read.

“(Dodgers owner Frank) McCourt did a great job putting the fans with the team,” Hibler said. “I was very impressed.”