The final regularly scheduled Cactus League game in Tucson was played yesterday, as the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks closed the door on training in the Old Pueblo. It may not be the end of spring training in Tucson, however.
It was a bittersweet day in the Old Pueblo yesterday, as the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies squared off in the last official Cactus League game to be played in Tucson.
Both teams will be training in a new East Valley complex next spring and sharing a ballpark.
Spring training first came to Tucson in 1947 when Bill Veeck brought his Cleveland Indians to the Old Pueblo; not so coincidentally Veeck had a ranch in the area and didn't want to stray too far from home at the beginning of training. Since then spring training has been a part of the Tucson scene (mostly at Hi Corbett Park), with the Rockies coming in 1993 and the Diamondbacks in 1998.
A crowd of 6,817 showed up to Hi Corbett Field for the last hurrah.
Whether this is the last spring-training game in Tucson remains to be seen. Tucson officials are working on bringing in a Japanese team to train at the Tucson Electric Park complex, and there's already a move to bring in college and high-school tourneys. If a Japanese team trains in Tucson next spring, there's the chance a team (most likely the Diamondbacks) would play a game there. And, of course, the Tucson Toros (independent; Golden Baseball League) are a regular-season success at Hi Corbett Field.
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