The Cactus League: Baseball Spring Training in Arizona
Written: Apr 12 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great for baseball fans
Cons: You might not be one
The Bottom Line: Baseball fans should go to spring training at least once in their lives.
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| factotum's Full Review: Arizona |
Most Major League teams, including all of the franchises that play in cities east of Chicago, hold their spring training in Florida and play their exhibition games as part of the Grapefruit League. A growing number of MLB teams break camp in Arizona and play in the spring training Cactus League. Currently, their are five National and four American League teams participating in the CL, with more expected to join in the next few years, including Detroit and Kansas City.
As I discussed in my opinion on Tucson, my folks spend most of the winter in Tucson and I try to visit them each year during spring training. Three Major League teams call Tucson home during the spring. They are the Chicago White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. I spent a couple days in Tucson last month and caught a couple ballgames when I wasn't too caught up in the Madness on CBS to leave the house.
The Diamondbacks and the Sox share a home stadium while maintaining separate training facilities at Tucson Electric Park. The Rockies, meanwhile, hold their camp and play their games at Hi Corbett Field, a much older facility that was the spring home of the Cleveland Indians from the days when the team was owned by Bill Veeck up until Colorado's entry into the Majors a few years ago. While I didn't make it to Hi Corbett this year, I did have the good fortune to see games on consecutive days at TEP.
On Friday, March 23rd, the Sox took on a split squad of their cross-town rivals the Chicago Cubs. The game was aired nationally on WGN, and I was optimistic that the Cubs would send the A team for the folks back home and across the country to see. No such luck. The team evidently decided that they wanted to spare their veterans the travel. The line-up was announced and the most familiar names were Ron Coomer at first and Joe Girardi behind the plate.
Ah, well. One thing about spring training is that you never know who is going to play, and part of the excitement of it is seeing young players before they make it to the show. Besides, any disappointment I might have felt was forgotten when the White Sox line-up was called. After running through what is likely to be the opening day batting order for the 2001 White Sox, the PA announcer called out David Wells as the team's starting pitcher (the AL White Sox were the home team, so the DH was used). Having never seen Boomer in person, I was very happy to finally have the opportunity to do so.
Surprisingly, the Cubs took an early lead on Wells, behind Coomer's two Sosa-esque solo homers. Wells' appeared somewhat shaky on the mound, his footwork was a bit messed up and it affected his delivery. But he got through four innings and gave up only the two runs. I read in the local paper the next day that he was battling through the flu, which I guess accounts for his struggles.
Kip Wells, bidding for the fifth spot in the rotation this year, came in and pitched three fairly ineffective innings, giving up three more runs. He nevertheless won the game, as the Sox exploded for six runs in the bottom of the seventh. Closer Keith Foulke gave up a run in the ninth, but held on to pick up his first (first?) save of the spring.
On the next day, a split D'backs squad took on the Giants at TEP. When we got there, Brian Anderson was throwing in the pen, and I was fairly happy as I have followed his career somewhat since his days in Cleveland. The Giants announced their starters, and I was of course disappointed when the names of Barry Bonds and former Arizona Wildcats star J.T. Snow were not called. At least their starting pitcher Mark Gardner was a guy that figures to be in their regular rotation.
Once again, my disappointment was quickly forgotten when the starting pitcher for the home team was announced. This time it was none other than Randy Johnson. Perhaps Anderson was working on the side--I had seen something in the paper suggesting he was day to day with a sore something or another--or maybe my eyesight is terrible (memo to self: see about umpire school). In any event Randy came out with Nasty, Filthy Stuff. He commanded the inside of the plate, knocking down several and even hitting one Giant who tried crowding it. He struck out five of the first six batters on route to a seven inning, eight strikeout victory.
Or perhaps I should say his stuff was Killer. With two out and one on in the seventh, he threw a fastball in the high nineties past Armando Rios. Rather than hitting, say, an inside corner, the ball instead hit a dove that was flying too close to the plate. The bird died with a sickening thud and a flurry of feathers. The crowd, at first, was stunned; then there was a buzz in crowd as everyone compared notes. Jeff Kent, the on deck hitter, grabbed the dead bird, and kind of displayed it before he disposed of it. It was pretty sick, but you could really only laugh about it.
The incident shook up the Unit a bit, though, as he gave up two runs on two consecutive hits. In fairness, two of his last three hits would have probably been caught by regular outfielders rather than the minor leaguers that were in at the time. In fact, the whole thing wouldn't have happened had the right fielder caught a catchable ball at the wall before Rios came up.
But it didn't really matter, nor did the three runs given up by Greg Swindell in the ninth. (I should add here that Byung Hyun-Kim pitched the eighth and, picking up from last season, he was unhittable, striking out two of the three batters he faced) Gardner was tagged for an unbelievable eight runs--five earned--in the first two innings and the game was more or less over from then on. The most notable performance of the day from the mound for San Francisco came from former Dodger prospect Jamie Arnold. He threw a lively ball, giving up just one hit (he also hit Greg Colbrunn in retaliation for Johnson's hit batter) and struck out two batters in as many innings of work.
The season has started for real here in April. But I love going to Arizona each year and getting an early jump on it. It just makes the first pitch seem that much more exciting.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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