WHO NEEDS A BEACH?
Spring baseball also thrives in the Cactus League
Spring baseball also thrives in the Cactus League
Baseball players and their fans, especially Northeasterners escaping the remnants of winter, love the sunny, dry, blue-sky days that Florida provides every March. But what about those Midwesterners and “Left Coasters”? Where do they find their great American pastime without country-wide travel plans?
The answer is Arizona, another state guaranteed to provide classic baseball weather in spring. Since the 1920s, major league teams have varied their training locations, opting for Florida for a few years and then Arizona for others, economics being the great decider.
With the Detroit Tigers leading the way in 1929, the “Cactus League” began, unofficially. But when that venture was almost dying in the late 1960s, the Arizona Baseball Commission was created, and the wheeling and dealing began. New stadium deals and fresh MLB teams found each other—while loving fans, such as in Florida, showed their support by showing up. The result today is 15 teams spread across Phoenix and seven other nearby towns, creating a “pop-up” economy that serves the area well.
Philadelphian Brian O’Grady, a Cincinnati Reds eighth-round draft pick (and my nephew), has spent the last three springs playing in the Cactus League in Goodyear Stadium, a park that the Reds share with the Cleveland Indians. “It’s fun,” he explains. “It’s really laid-back. Fans walk around anywhere with players.”
When asked about the weather, he points out a slight difference between the Cactus League and the “Grapefruit League” of Florida: “Arizona has perfect baseball weather [in spring]. You get some really cold mornings in Florida, during workouts. Out there, it’s warm all the time.”
But O’Grady loves when the regular season begins. He’s spent three seasons on Cincinnati teams in the Florida cities of Daytona Beach and Pensacola. He thrives on the heat. “Oh,” he says, without hesitation, “I love Florida.”
Arizona has perfect baseball weather [in spring]. You get some really cold mornings in Florida, during workouts. Out there, it’s warm all the time.” —Brian O’Grady