Becoming an honorary D-backs fan for a day

In 1947, New York Giants (the baseball team, not the football one) owner Horace Stoneham brought his team down to Arizona for training games against the Cleveland Indians before the season began. While the games were part of the reason for Stoneham’s move, there was an alternative logic to the move. One could play spring games against other teams in Florida, but what Florida didn’t have was the hot springs at the Buckhorn Baths facility. Stoneham had gone to the springs himself and, convinced by the supposed healing properties of the baths, decided to move the Giants spring training sessions to Arizona instead so that the team could make use of the baths.

When the spa was credited with “curing” one of the Giants’ players injuries and then the team went on to win the World Series in 1954, crediting in part the springs to the victory, the popularity of the Buckhorn Baths exploded among major leaguers and more teams began to move down to Arizona for their spring games. While there were certainly other factors behind the teams moves, what is now known as the Cactus League owes part of its existence to these hot springs with supposedly almost magical curative properties.

Decades later, spring training baseball has exploded into a massive money maker for Major League baseball. With half the teams participating in the Cactus League in Arizona and the other half part of the Grapefruit League in Florida, what is essentially an extra fifth of the season is played before the games even start counting. And even though the games don’t hold much weight (except for the few borderline players trying to make a roster), thousands of fans make the trip to watch what is essentially practice for major leaguers.

I had an opportunity last week to attend my first spring training game when Mikaela and I visited her family in Phoenix. Her brother-in-law works with the Arizona Diamondbacks and he was able to get us Row 2 tickets. I don’t know if I’ll ever have closer seats in my life, but that in and of itself was a pretty cool experience.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great while I was there (the few days I was there the temperatures were in the 50s and 60s, which is pretty atypical for this time of year), but honestly it was probably for the best that it worked out the way that it did when we went to the game. Instead of the hot Arizona sun beating down on us, it was more akin to a warm-ish Wisconsin spring day, without the chill wind that typically whips through. While maybe not as warm as I would have preferred it was still pretty comfortable.

Which is kind of a description of the atmosphere of the spring training game in general. There is a more relaxed, chill feel to the entire proceedings. The stadium is smaller and less crowded and with it being in open air, it feels less like you are packing tightly into a box with thousands of other people. At the Diamondbacks’ field, fans can find an open spot on the grass just beyond the outfield fence and lay out blankets to sit and watch the game. You don’t feel as rushed by the waves of people trying to get to their seats or the bathrooms or whatever and the lines to the concessions or the shops are much shorter (though the prices definitely aren’t any cheaper). It has the vibes of a minor league game, just with major league talent on the field.

Kind of. Luckily, the Diamondbacks had most of their starters in, so it was pretty cool to see the likes of Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll up close and personal. Somewhat unfortunately, the Cincinnati Reds had their B-Team out on the field, and while it was interesting to see some of the unknowns in the farm system, we didn’t get to see Elly De La Cruz when we peeked into the Reds dugout.

I would definitely recommend checking out a game sometime if you are a baseball fan; even if the games are ultimately meaningless, I get why people like going to them. The atmosphere is definitely different from your typical major league game, but in a good way.

So thanks Horace, for your belief in the supposed healing powers of some hot mineral water. We couldn’t have done it without you.

A C ERTAIN POINT OF V IEW

BY

NATHANIEL U NDERWOOD REPORTER