Spring Training 2015 opens in a few weeks in the states of Florida and Arizona for all 30 MLB clubs. While America is experiencing one of its warmer winters on record, a lot of folks in the heavily populated Eastern seaboard regions of the country may currently disagree with that notion. Fear not though, baseball fans. The sun shines mostly bright in the desert and everglades and the boys of summer will be lacing up their cleats very soon, forecasting warmer days ahead.
1. Origins
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Playing exhibition games in warmer climates during the winter and early spring days of MLB is nearly as old as the game itself. The Philidelphia Phillies were the first team to play a game in the state of Florida. The club spent two weeks there in Jacksonville in 1889. The beginning of the modern coined “Grapefruit League” came about in 1914 when the Cubs, Indians and two other clubs took to playing spring ball in the Sunshine State.
The story behind Cactus League play is a bit more intriguing. Integral baseball personality Bill Veeck had his minor league Milwaukee Brewers training in Ocala, FL, in 1945. According to his autobiography, he un-knowingly sat in the colored persons section at a segregated game. After breaking into conversation with some spectators, local law enforcement informed him he could not sit there. Veeck refused to move and an argument broke out, culminating in the officers phoning the mayor. Veeck got the mayor to back down when he threatened to take his team elsewhere for spring training games and otherwise let the whole country know why he made that decision.
In 1946 after selling the Brewers and retiring to his ranch in Tucson, AZ, Veeck bought the Cleveland Indians and decided to hold spring training games there to avoid the racial injustices he experienced while in Florida. He persuaded the New York Giants to join him there, berthing the Cactus League. Veeck then went on to sign outfielder Larry Doby, who was only the second Black player to play MLB in the 20th century.
2. Competition and Locations
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Exhibition games in spring training do not have to be played between two MLB teams. NCAA baseball teams are eligible and have provided competition in the past. Minor league clubs, as well as intra-squad games between players on the same team also factor in. On years when the World Baseball Classic occurs, national team squads prepare for the tournament by playing against major league rosters.
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While Arizona and Florida are typically exclusive to 15 MLB clubs each, teams have played exhibition games elsewhere. Last year, the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets played two games at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada. The Jays will host the Reds for two additional games there in 2015.
Spring training facilities are not unique to MLB clubs at the professional baseball level. The Nippon Professional Baseball League in Japan adopted the same formality. They host spring training contests regularly in South Korea, Taiwan and the Phillipines, as well as at American sites in Salinas, CA and Yuma, AZ.
Additionally, since 1986, Japan has hosted an All-Star series pitting various MLB players against some of the best from the NPB every even numbered year. Though they are not considered spring training games, they are still exhibition gams being played on foreign soil by MLB players. The series was cancelled from 2008-12 in favor of the WBC.
3. Venues
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The venue pictured above, Hammond Stadium, has been home to the Minnesota Twins since 1991. The exterior was built with Churchill Downs in mind, the famous Thoroughbred horse racetrack in Louisville, KY.
McKechnie Field is the oldest venue in existence. It was opened in 1923 in Bradenton, FL, and was first home to the St. Louis Cardinals. Since 1969, the Pittsburgh Pirates have called it their spring training home. At present, only two big league stadiums — Fenway Park and Wrigley Field — have housed the game of pro baseball for a longer period in the United States.
The newest stadium is Sloan Park, which opened last year in Mesa, AZ and is home to the Chicago Cubs. With a capacity of 15,000, it is the largest stadium in either the Grapefruit or Cactus leagues.
The $100 million Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, AZ, is home to both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies as a training facility. It opened in 2011 complete with two separate 85,000-square-foot clubhouses for each squad and 12 total practice fields. It represents the first ever MLB park to be built on Native American land.
4. Attendance
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The belief goes that not many people attend spring training baseball games. While it varies by location, the Cactus League set an attendance record last as recently as 2011 with over 1.59 million fans filing through the gates in Arizona to take in a ball game.
Every fan has their own reason to attend, but if you find yourself looking for a reason to make the venture, these might be enticing enough for you to finalize planning your trip:
There’s not a better place to see how your club’s prospects stack up against some of the premier talent already in the game.
Spring training is a great place to get autographs from your favorite player(s) that you might normally have a slim chance at acquiring during the regular season.
If money is no object, great ideas for incorporating spring training into a bachelor party trip or conducting your fantasy draft while on-location in the sun with a group of guys are options.
The price of admission is a huge plus. Seeing a game in a quality seat at a big league park could cost you well over $100, where as $5-$10 is a typical price of admission to take in a spring training game.
Lastly, if you live in the area and are a fan of baseball, it makes sense to support your community and/or team. Spring training in Arizona generates more than $300 million annually for the greater Phoenix area’s metropolitan economy.
5. Rivalries
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The Cleveland Indians and San Francisco Giants have the longest spring training rivalry in existence, dating back to 1934. Just because exhibition games are not counted towards regular season statistics, does not mean the competition isn’t fierce. Many grudges from previous seasons between players can carry into the following seasons spring training sessions.
And because players fall under less scrutiny for their actions in March, fans have a better chance of seeing something exciting like a bench clearing brawl.
What’s more, there are many minor league players fighting for meaningful roster spots on the active roster. Some to the point of desperation starting to set in, as they could be entering their mid or late 20s in age. The rivalries between both individuals and entire teams can be intense and helps to set the stage for many of the more intriguing story lines that will unfold once the regular season gets underway.
