Catch a few in the Cactus League

Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2007 | 7:05 a.m.

Pitchers and catchers have reported. Superstar outfielders, utility infielders and hopeful rookies, too. Even beleaguered Barry Bonds is in camp, beginning his ritual avoidance of reporters as he loosens up to chase down Hank Aaron's home run record.

That means the first real sign of spring - Major League Baseball games being played in cozy 10,000-seat stadiums in the middle of the desert - is right around the corner.

Dust off your old Cubs cap and dig out the tube of sunblock because a 60-year-old tradition continues Wednesday with the opening of the 2007 Cactus League season. There's just one game Wednesday: the Colorado Rockies vs. the Chicago White Sox. The full slate of games begins Thursday.

If you can't wait for the Big League Weekend games at Cashman Field in late March, the closest ballparks are a mere four-hour drive from Las Vegas (five, actually, when you factor in the change to Mountain Standard Time) and seats can be had for as little as $2 (at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, home of the Rockies).

Cactus League games run through April 1, but most teams wrap up play March 30 in Arizona.

Schedules and tickets

Complete schedules and ticket information for the 12 Cactus League teams can be found at www.cactusleague.com.

Cactus League teams

Arizona Diamondbacks

Stadium: Tucson Electric Park

Capacity: 11,000

Year stadium opened: 1998

Tickets: $5-$16; (866) 672-1343

Chicago Cubs

Stadium: HoHoKam Park Stadium, Mesa, Ariz.

Capacity: 12,632

Year stadium opened: 1997 (old stadium from 1977 to 1996)

Tickets: $6-$22; (480) 964-4467 or (800) 905-3315

Chicago White Sox

Stadium: Tucson Electric Park

Capacity: 11,000

Year stadium opened: 1998

Tickets: $5-$16; 866-672-1343

Colorado Rockies

Stadium: Hi Corbett Field, Tucson

Capacity: 8,665

Year stadium opened: 1927

Tickets: $2-$15; (520) 327-9467

Kansas City Royals

Stadium: Surprise Stadium, Surprise, Ariz.

Capacity: 10,400

Year stadium opened: 2003

Tickets: $6-$20; (480) 784-4444

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Stadium: Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe, Ariz.

Capacity: 9,600

Year stadium opened: 1969 (renovated 2006)

Tickets: $5-$24; (480) 784-4444 or (888) 994-2567

Milwaukee Brewers

Stadium: Maryvale Baseball Park, Phoenix

Capacity: 10,000

Year stadium opened: 1998 (renovated 2005)

Tickets: $7-$19; (623) 245-5500

Oakland Athletics

Stadium: Phoenix Municipal Stadium

Capacity: 7,885

Year stadium opened: 1964 (renovated 2003)

Tickets: $8-$24; (877) 493-2255

San Diego Padres

Stadium: Peoria Sports Complex, Peoria, Ariz.

Capacity: 11,300

Year stadium opened: 1994

Tickets: $6-$21; (480) 784-4444

San Francisco Giants

Stadium: Scottsdale Stadium

Capacity: 11,500

Year stadium opened: 1992 (renovated 2005; old stadium from 1956 to 1991)

Tickets: $8-$24 (weekday), $12-$26 (weekend); (800) 225-2277

Seattle Mariners

Stadium: Peoria Sports Complex, Peoria, Ariz.

Capacity: 11,300

Year stadium opened: 1994

Tickets: $6-$21; (480) 784-4444

Texas Rangers

Stadium: Surprise Stadium, Surprise, Ariz.

Capacity: 10,400

Year stadium opened: 2003

Tickets: $6-$20; (480) 784-4444

Unlikely spring sites

While all Major League Baseball teams conduct their spring training either in Arizona and Florida, that has not always been the case.

The Chicago Cubs held spring training on Catalina Island off the Southern California coast for 25 seasons between 1922 and 1951, and the Los Angeles Dodgers were one of three teams that went through their spring drills in Havana.

Here are some other unlikely cities that have played host to major league spring training throughout the years:

Bear Mountain, N.Y.

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

French Lick, Ind.

Galveston, Texas

Hollywood, Calif.

Hot Springs, Ark.

Mexico City

Muncie, Ind.

Redondo Beach, Calif.

Stockton, Calif.

Wallingford, Conn.

Waxahachie, Texas

Cactus League (revisionist) history

The Cactus League was formed in 1946 when legendary baseball owner/promoter Bill Veeck moved his Cleveland Indians' spring home from Florida to Arizona, and convinced New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham to do the same.

"Among Veeck's reasons for relocating his ball club from its previous spring training site in Florida was the fact that he had recently signed Larry Doby, who would be the American League's first black player, and Veeck believed Arizona's racial climate to be more hospitable," the Cactus League's official Web site states.

Nice story, but it doesn't quite jibe with the facts.

According to the Cleveland Indians' official Web site, Doby was signed to a free-agent contract by the team and made his Major League debut on July 5, 1947. Prior to joining the Indians, Doby was playing for the Newark Eagles in the Negro Leagues and he was the first player to go straight from the Negro Leagues to the majors.

The Cactus League site goes on to state that the league's inaugural game - between Cleveland and the New York Giants - was played on March 8, 1946. Several published reports contend the first Cactus League game actually was played in 1947. Major League Baseball's official Web site has both the Indians and Giants training in Florida in 1946.

Incidentally, the Detroit Tigers held their spring training in Phoenix in 1929 and hosted several games, but 1947 marked the first time two teams trained in Arizona at the same time.

- Brian Hilderbrand

2006 Cactus League standings

Royals 17-10 .630

Angels 18-11 .621

Padres 17-11 .607

Rockies 17-12 .586

Diamondbacks 18-14 .563

Cubs 16-13 .552

Athletics 15-17 .469

Brewers 14-16 .467

Giants 13-17 .433

Rangers 12-16 .429

Mariners 11-17 .393

White Sox 10-19 .345

Field of Neon

Imagine, if you will, baseball spring training with three distinct circuits - the Grapefruit League in Florida, the Cactus League in Arizona and the Neon League in Southern Nevada.

The Neon League never became reality although there were two rounds of negotiations to make it happen.

The first was in 1994, when a pitch was made to the Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers (when George Bush owned them) and Houston Astros to move their spring digs to Southern Nevada. But the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority got cold feet and the project got pushed to the back burner.

"You could have done it for $50 million then," said Las Vegas 51s President Don Logan, the point man for those negotiations. "It would cost five times that now."

When Fox bought the Las Vegas Dodgers the spring training talks began anew, with the Rangers and Kansas City Royals expressing interest in moving their spring bases to a proposed site in Henderson adjacent to the Galleria at Sunset mall.

But elected officials lost interest before a fourth team could be courted.

You would almost need the Dodgers to even think about doing spring training here, Logan said. With Los Angeles moving to a new spring home in Glendale, Ariz., in 2009 and officials here focusing on luring an NBA or NHL team to town, the Neon League is a good idea that isn't going to happen.

"It's a dead horse," Logan said.

- Ron Kantowski