In an effort to turn out support for public funding of a new Chicago Cubs spring-training complex in northwest Mesa, the city and the team released renderings of a lovely new facility, complete with retail, iconic sign a la Wrigley and office space. Mesa voters will have before them two referendum questions on Nov. 2 […]
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Tucson waiting for player-union approval for Japanese spring training
If the players union agrees to the addition of Japanese teams to spring training, up to four teams could be training in Tucson in 2011, playing games against their MLB brethren. Though nothing has been firmed, it’s looking good for Nippon Professional Baseball teams to be training at Tucson in 2011. MLB has unofficially given […]
Japanese teams in the mix for spring training?
Tucson officials say they’re close to signing some Japanese teams to train this coming spring at Tucson Electric Park, provided Major League Baseball teams are willing to play some exhibition games — and apparently they are. At a press conference yesterday officials with the Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority said they’ve met with the […]
Riverview Park emerges as choice for Cubs spring-training facilities
Fascinated by its potential as a retail site where fans can buy all things Cubbie year-round, the Chicago Cubs front office and Mesa officials have settled on Riverview Park, in the northwest corner of the city, as the site of a new spring-training complex. The site emerged as a favorite after a study indicated it […]
Mesa: We think another MLB team will move to HoHoKam
Mesa officials have a game plan for HoHoKam Park, which in the next few years will become the former spring home of the Chicago Cubs: they’ll try to attract another MLB team to train there. Not a bad plan, really: might as well give it a shot. The plan is pretty simple: when the Cubs […]
Study evaluates potential Cubs spring-training sites
A study evaluating potential spring-training sites for the Chicago Cubs gives an edge to a site on the fringe of the city versus downtown Mesa — but we’re not sure the project is being judged by the right criteria. The study, commissioned for less than $20,000 by Mesa officials, evaluates three potential spring-training sites on […]
Five sites emerge as home for new Cubs facility
Five sites are under consideration as the new home of a Chicago Cubs spring-training complex in Mesa, but two are emerging as the front-runners. The two are Riverview Park and downtown Mesa. The sites have some pretty specific criteria attached: besides serving as the home to a new ballpark and spring-training complex, the site must […]
Cubs to Naples: We prefer to stay in Arizona, thank you
The quest to bring the Chicago Cubs to a new spring-training site in Naples is all but over, as Crane Kenney politely declines the offer for now — which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone following the situation. What was surprising: how dogged the two outfits seeking the Cubs were pursuing the team, even […]
Camelback Ranch-Glendale / Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox
Camelback Ranch-Glendale, the spring home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox, has become one of the best places to catch a game or practice in the Cactus League. With a layout that invites fan participation and a design that looks like it’s been part of the desert forever, Camelback Ranch-Glendale is a […]
Goodyear Ballpark / Cleveland Indians
Goodyear, located on the far western edge of the greater Phoenix area, isn’t the first place to come to mind when brainstorming for the ideal spring-training locale. But the new spring home of the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds combines state-of-the-art training complexes with one of the more pleasant ballparks in the Cactus League, in […]
HoHoKam Park / Chicago Cubs
Considering the Chicago Cubs play the regular season in one of the most charming ballparks in baseball, a visit to HoHoKam Park in March will tend to be disappointing to anyone but the most hardcore Cubbie fan. In some ways HoHoKam is the polar opposite of Wrigley Field: the old ballpark at Clark and Addison […]
Chase Field / Arizona Diamondbacks
There is simply no escaping an air-conditioned existence if you spend any time in Phoenix in the summer: the desert atmosphere so welcome for spring training in March becomes rather tiresome by the beginning of June, when it’s just too damn hot to be outside. At the end of the day, air conditioning is perhaps […]