By Bob McManaman
Staff writer
By Bob McManaman
Staff writer
As pitchers and catchers prepare to report this week, the Cactus League never has been as wealthy or as healthy as it is today.
The majority of the eight Major League Baseball clubs that train in the state are locked in multiyear lease agreements with their respective facilities, all of which are new or will be refurbished by 1997 or '98.
And the league could hit the jackpot if Las Vegas lures additional teams from Florida's Grapefruit League.
"It's just getting better and better, if you ask me," said Fred Stanley, director of player development for the Milwaukee Brewers. "We've got more stability now in Arizona than we've ever had. There are some real strong tenants down there right now."
By the time the expansion Diamondbacks begin spring training at their new spring home in Tucson in two years, the oldest Cactus League park -- or the last to be rebuilt or renovated -- will be Scottsdale Stadium, home of the San Francisco Giants. The stadium was erected in 1992 and still is considered one of the grandest of all spring-training sites.
"That is amazing when you think about it," said Bob Quinn Jr., the Giants' director of Arizona operations. "Peoria and some of the other new facilities are beautiful in their own right, but we still love Scottsdale Stadium."
The Giants are five years into their 17-year agreement with Scottsdale. That means San Francisco fans in the Valley don't have to fret about possibly losing their beloved Giants until at least 2008.
Similar relief can be felt elsewhere, and it is as comforting as Dennis Eckersley entering a game in the ninth inning protecting a one-run lead:
After years of negotiations and veiled threats, Mesa and the Cubs finally agreed on a deal to build the new facility on the site where HoHoKam Park now stands.
"They're going to start knocking things down the minute we leave," Cubs spokesman Chuck Wesserstram said.
Dirt will start being moved at the Brewers' new digs in Maryvale by mid-May, team officials said. The Brewers, who will play their 11th and final season in Chandler this spring, will move into a new complex at 51st Avenue and Indian School Road on a 60-acre parcel of land donated by developer John F. Long.
The new stadium will seat 10,000 comfortably, and the adjoining facilities will include executive offices, training rooms and clubhouses, and 4-1/2 practice fields for both major- and minor-league players.
"We didn't want something with bells, whistles and bows, we just wanted what everybody else has," Stanley said. "Chandler did what it could, and we hate the idea of leaving there, but we didn't even have air-conditioning at our complex and our guys were roasting.
"I mean, you take 145 players, 26 coaches and managers, and trainers, and you can imagine how hot it gets in one of those clubhouses. And the dust ... If you didn't have hay fever or asthma when you got there, you got it when you left."
Meanwhile, the Pima County Board of Supervisors approved a tax package last week to build more facilities in Tucson to ensure keeping the Colorado Rockies and at least two other teams, one likely being the Diamondbacks, for several years.
The Tucson City Council takes up the issue Monday.
"The ideal situation for the Cactus League all along has been to keep those clubs who are presently in the Valley, maybe even add one or two, and also have a couple teams in Tucson," said Woody Woodward, the Mariners' general manager and vice president of baseball operations. "From that standpoint, I'd say we've definitely reached our goal."
Everybody close to the Cactus League seems to be happy as the equipment is unpacked and prepara- tions are made for the annual rite of spring. The first players are to report Thursday.
"I don't know how much stronger it can get, at least from our perspective," the Giants' Quinn said. "We were glready operating at about 93 percent (crowd) capacity, and I'm sure it's no different with other teams in town like the Cubs, the Padres and the Mariners.
"Everybody's geared for a huge spring. Look at Seattle. They're coming off a great, great year, a wild ride through the playoffs, and they just locked up Ken Griffey (Jr.) to a contract that'll keep him with the Mariners for as long as he'll probably play baseball."
