Arizona Baseball Spring Training

What is better to relax in your favorite stadium during baseball season? How about enjoying some spring training games? Many people think of Florida when they think of baseball teams that drill in the spring to train for the rigors of summer ball. However, Arizona’s spring training baseball, known as the “Cactus League,” features some of the best teams in America, and you can see them up close in smaller, more intimate stadiums.

Does your favorite team play in the Cactus League? Well, here’s a list of the teams that play spring training baseball in Arizona:

or Arizona Diamondbacks
Chicago Cubs
or Chicago White Sox
or Colorado Rocky Mountains
Kansas City Royals
or Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
or Los Angeles Dodgers
o Milwaukee Brewers
or Oakland Athletics
or San Diego Padres
or San Francisco Giants
seattle mariners
or Texas Rangers

The teams play throughout the month of March, in seven different cities in the Phoenix and Tucson areas. Arizona spring training baseball typically takes place every day, so if you’re planning a trip, you’ll almost certainly make it to a game or two, even if it’s not among your favorite teams. Sometimes they play a couple of dates in late February and early April as well.

A minor league history

The Cactus League was first formed in 1946, when the Cleveland Indians went to Tucson and the New York Giants to Phoenix to exercise for a month before baseball season began. This first spring training baseball Arizona was sidetracked from Florida because the Indians signed Larry Doby, the American League’s first black player and Cleveland owner Bill Veeck thought Arizona would be more open to a race team mixed. The Chicago Cubs arrived in 1951, and since then, the spring training roster has grown to 13 teams that play every day for the entire month of March.

Smaller stadiums with smaller prices

The weather in Phoenix and Tucson in March is warm and perfect for early spring baseball, and the teams play close enough to each other that it’s easy to get from stadium to stadium. Best of all, these are small, intimate ballparks; where fans can get that much closer to all the baseball action, and that’s why so many people head to spring training baseball in Arizona. Tickets are cheaper, too, and you can still watch the big players hit one outside the stadium; you’re just more apt to catch that home run in one of these smaller ballparks.

Arizona spring training baseball is all about seeing promising rookies make their mark, too. If you attend Cactus League games, you might see the next A-Rod or Ken Griffey, Jr. right there, warming up in the circle on the deck right in front of his seats.

Stadiums are located in the Tempe, Mesa, Peoria, Scottsdale, Glendale and Surprise areas of Phoenix, and in Tucson, less than 2 hours south of Phoenix. Tickets are available through local Arizona spring training ballparks and through individual team websites. Enjoy the Cactus League in Arizona and enjoy the best baseball you’ve ever seen in March!