Cannon: Summer's ambition? Baseball and burgers

This time last year I wrote a column about all the things I was going to do during the summer of 2012. The list included kayaking, going to rodeos, hiking, playing board games, taking a trip to Ogden on the UTA FrontRunner, growing heirloom tomatoes, getting my dad to teach me how to swing a golf club, making ice cream, running barefoot and (oh yeah) WALKING ACROSS ENGLAND, because who doesn't want to hoof it across the width of a foreign country every now and then?

Here's the thing. I ended up checking off almost everything on my to-do list, which is awesome, right? Except right now I look at that list and it makes me so tired I want to go to bed for the rest of my life. I look at that list and think, "What kind of crazy person came up with all that?"

I don't know. Maybe I'm still exhausted from last year or something, but the only thing I really want to do this summer is to a) watch a lot of baseball and b) eat a lot of hamburgers.

That's it. That's all I want to do. I don't care about improving my mind or my body. And you know what? I don't even feel guilty about that. Apparently I've already used up my guilt quota on other things this year.

Besides, you know how life is. Like an ocean. Ebbing and flowing and ebbing and flowing, and right now I just feel like doing a little ebbing. In fact, I'm gonna hang a sign on my door that says, "Gone Ebbing." Which is fine, because one day that will change, too.

Anyway. I will probably spend more than a few innings down at Spring Mobile Ballpark watching the Salt Lake Bees. One of the great things about having a minor league team in town is that you're able to watch players who wind up in the big leagues. Over the years the following people have played in Salt Lake: David Ortiz (Redsox); Chone Figgins (Marlins); Tori Hunter (Tigers); A. J. Pierynski (Rangers) and a whole raft of guys currently playing for the Angels — Jered Weaver, Mike Trout, Mark Trumbo, Hank Conger, Erick Ayber, Howie Kendrick, and Peter Bourjos (when he's not on the DL).

(Historical note courtesy of my husband, the baseball geek: Tony Lazzeri, who was part of the famous New York Yankee's Murderer's Row, hit 60 home runs in 1925 for the old Salt Lake Bees!)

And even if I don't head for the ballpark, I'll probably follow games on TV, especially if one of the following teams is playing: the Cubs, the Yankees, the Angels, the Athletics or the Giants. (For the record, I am NOT a baseball expert. Not even close. But I do enjoy the sport and the stuff that goes along with it. Like bags of peanuts, for example.)

I'm also not a hamburger expert, but that certainly doesn't stop me from eating them. I usually get my fix at Hires, that famous Salt Lake institution that specializes in the Big "H" combo (burger, fries, fry sauce and a soda). But because I'm going to be eating hamburgers LIKE A BOSS this summer, I don't mind branching out a little. This is where you, the reader, can help a girl out. Please email me or post your suggestions online for the best hamburgers this state has to offer. I've been known to drive long, long distances to satisfy my food lust.

Looking forward to the summer.

Hope you are, too.

Ann Cannon can be reached at acannon@sltrib.com or facebook.com/anncannontrib. —

Suggest a better burger

I Ann Cannon's favorite spot for a summer burger fix is Hires Big H, but she's open to suggestions. Email your recommendations to acannon@sltrib.com or post them at facebook.com/anncannontrib.