The day dawned cool and crisp, but the first sign of spring came Jan. 30 to the Valley of the Sun. That`s when exhibition game baseball tickets went on sale, and nothing gets the natives and Arizona winter residents-or snowbirds, as they`re called-more stirred up than Cactus League baseball.
What else could bring 72-year-old Paul Karlin to Mesa`s HoHoKam Park at 3:30 a.m.? He was first in line among 181 shivering fans when the ticket window opened at 9.
”I get my choice of seats,” said the Ohio native, who wanted two tickets for the Chicago Cubs-Cleveland Indians game of March 11.
Lawn chairs, blankets and hot beverages are common as the line annually snakes around HoHoKam. The early morning sojourn is sort of an Arizona Ground Hog Day.
”This is nothing. You should have seen it in `85,” said 72-year-old Francis Aupperle. ”There must have been 2,000 people out here.”
That`s typical of the interest generated by the Cubs, who perform their rites of spring in an 8,937-seat park that will sell beer for the first time this season.
Spring training is big business in Arizona-$150 million annually, $30 million alone generated by the Cubs in Mesa.
One of Rose Mofford`s first acts as governor was to create the Cactus League Task Force to persuade current teams to remain in Arizona, where spring training has been a regular attraction since 1948, when the then New York Giants took up residence in Phoenix and the Cleveland team in Tucson. Booster groups, politicians and private companies are working to improve existing facilities as the primary enticement.
Chicago`s National League entry is considered the No. 1 target of aggressive Florida cities bent on adding to the Grapefruit League.
In 1985, the Cubs became the first major league team to draw 100,000 for its home exhibition games. Last season the Cubs attracted 130,584 fans, an average of 8,162 a game, to again lead all teams in the Cactus or Grapefruit leagues.
Excitement surrounding the other seven teams in training in Arizona-San Diego, Cleveland, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Seattle, California and Oakland-has never been higher.
Last spring, seven of the eight Cactus League teams set attendance records. The one that didn`t-the San Diego Padres-reports a 50 percent increase in ticket sales this season.
Only the California Angels are short-term visitors to Arizona, warming up at Gene Autry Park in northeast Mesa for two weeks before adjourning to their longtime camp in Palm Springs, Calif., for their home exhibition games.
Ticket prices range from $3.50 to $6, and the smaller parks produce an intimacy unmatched in the antiseptic major league stadiums.
Game-day workouts begin around 9:30 a.m., with the plate umpire`s cry of
”Play ball” echoing through the desert air at 1:05 p.m.
Most games are played within a 10-mile radius of Phoenix, making Arizona`s largest city a perfect destination for a baseball-starved tourist. Only the Padres and Indians don`t call the Valley of the Sun home. The Padres are encamped at Desert Sun Stadium in Yuma. The Indians use Hi Corbett Field in Tucson.
The American League West champion Oakland Athletics unlimber their muscles at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, summer home of the San Francisco Giants` Triple-A farm club and a few minutes from Sky Harbor International Airport.
Tempe Diablo Stadium is home to the Seattle Mariners, also near the airport and freeway. Guests of the neighboring Westcourt in the Buttes Hotel can look down on proceedings from their rooms.
Giants followers head to Scottsdale Stadium, in the downtown area and only a few blocks from that city`s shops and restaurants.
A trip to Scottsdale isn`t complete without a visit to the Pink Pony, a watering hole that has become a mecca for baseball executives, players and fans. More trades have been completed there than in George Steinbrenner`s wildest dreams.
Milwaukee enjoys the newest complex, Compadre Stadium in Chandler. It`s a sunken diamond amid a manmade amphitheater. For a minimal charge, fans can sit on the grassy hillsides beyond the outfield fence.
Compadre is perfect for autograph seekers because players can only access their clubhouses by climbing steep hills alongside the bleachers.
Well-wishers of Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray nearly caused him to miss the first pitch at a game last year. He`s as much a part of Cactus League baseball as abbreviated attire and tanning lotion.
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For general information on Arizona, contact the Arizona Office of Tourism, 1480 E. Bethany Home Rd., Phoenix, Ariz. 85014; 602-542-3618.
![Another Arlington Heights trustee will exit the Village Board headed for the General Assembly, with Nicolle Grasse picked Wednesday to replace Mark Walker as state representative of the 53rd District. June 5 “I was grateful, surprised and humbled,” Grasse told Pioneer Press after being appointed. “It’s kind of surreal but I’m really excited to get started.” Democratic committee leaders from Wheeling, Maine, Palatine and Elk Grove townships met Wednesday June 5 at the Mount Prospect Public Library to question the six applicants who had been vying for the seat vacated by Arlington Heights Democrat Mark Walker after he was appointed […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_1231-rotated.jpg?w=263 "Another Arlington Heights trustee will exit the Village Board headed for the General Assembly, with Nicolle Grasse picked Wednesday to replace Mark Walker as state representative of the 53rd District. June 5 “I was grateful, surprised and humbled,” Grasse told Pioneer Press after being appointed. “It’s kind of surreal but I’m really excited to get started.” Democratic committee leaders from Wheeling, Maine, Palatine and Elk Grove townships met Wednesday June 5 at the Mount Prospect Public Library to question the six applicants who had been vying for the seat vacated by Arlington Heights Democrat Mark Walker after he was appointed […]")
