Each February and March, America’s Pastime is played over 200 times between 15 teams in 10 little ballparks over six weeks in one desert metropolitan area.
“Welcome MPS to Spring Training 2026” read a little light-up sign I found on the nightstand in my guest room. It was my first trip to the “Cactus League,” and my cousin Marybeth Garrett, who is married to a longtime Major League Baseball staffer, made my arrival in Phoenix to attend Spring Training special. She surprised me by creating a gift basket with not only baseball’s traditional treat of “peanuts and crackerjacks,” but also “Big League Chew” gum; sunflower seeds; a baseball-shaped coffee mug; team logoed socks, a “You’re the Umpire” umpire quiz book, and a cactus-shaped sucker.
How would I fit in a ballpark hot dog? The solution was to wash it down with a prickly pear margarita in our desert-sun seats at the Arizona Diamondbacks’ snazzy Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, a fancy facility they share with the Colorado Rockies.
“Great mustaches aren’t born – they’re bread” read a sign in the concession stand at Mustache Pretzels, which are baked in shapes that harken to baseball’s handlebar era (even before Rollie Fingers.)
Competing cuisine came from Cincinnati at Goodyear Ballpark, where the Reds presented their hometown Skyline Chili Cheese Coneys among the concessions. The little hotdogs are sold two at a time and were perfect picnic fare while stretched out on the leftfield lawn – which, at low-key Spring Training is perfect posture. There are also umbrella-covered tables and lounge furniture on the covered, right-field patio of Goodyear Ballpark, which is shared by Ohio’s other team, the Cleveland Guardians. The park is otherwise, appropriately, Rust Belt-industrial in nature. “Thank you for coming. We enjoyed your company,” a “Midwest hospitable” attendant sweetly said, when we left the park.
Traditional Chicago Dogs and brats were similarly sold where the White Sox play at Camelback Ranch, a Disney-like campus and desert-style ballpark they share with the Los Angeles Dodgers. (Warning, their Dodger Dogs are a decidedly bready, bush-league version of the LA legend.) The grassy grounds there include a shaded pathway along a meandering, blue lake with monuments to the great players of the past in the form of giant baseballs and pennants. Tiger fans might seek out Kirk Gibson’s tribute – even though he’s displayed as a Dodger. And a directional sign lets fans know one of the Dodgers farm teams, the Great Lakes Loons, are 2,061 miles away in Midland, Michigan.
All four of the Cactus League spring training ballparks I visited had baseball-related, ancillary activities for kids and adults, like pitching kiosks with speed guns; jungle gyms; mini-diamonds; and souvenir shops. At each location, fans could watch players practice and, at Camelback Ranch, walk amongst the uniformed players from both LA and Chicago toting their duffle bags to various fields between workouts. While the Dodgers played the Diamondbacks, White Sox players were still on-property practicing.
One excited young fan, between innings, walked down to the front row, waved into the Diamondbacks dugout, and asked for a ball. One of the players was happy to oblige, tossing the boy a souvenir to remember. Torey Lovullo, Arizona’s all-time winning manager, poked his head out of the dugout, smiling and waving to fans.
The greater Phoenix area embraces the annual Cactus League play as if it were the Olympics. Restaurants hang out team flags and banners and put up themed decorations, as Chicago-based Lou Malnati’s Pizza did with a wall-sized mural made entirely of baseballs. A replica of Wrigley Field’s iconic marquis meets fans in Mesa’s Sloan Park, the Cubs 15,000-seat home away from home, which is the largest of the parks.
Anaheim plays in the smallest – a 9,000-seat park in Tempe named, Diablo Stadium, which is an ironic name for the home of the Angels since “diablo” means “devil.” It’s a heavenly setting, though, since the ballpark is built into the side of a geological formation and rocky landmark known as “Twin Buttes.”
No park is more than 30 miles from another, so, from one hotel, you can visit 15 Major League teams from across America on one trip. It’s even conceivable you could create a double-header in two parks when there is an occasional night game. Tickets range from $10 on the lawns to $50 dollars for premium games, but every seat is intimate.
You’re also likely to run into players in the evening at one of the many top restaurants in Scottsdale, Glendale, or elsewhere around town. We spotted a tableful of players at The Sicilian Butcher & Baker, a chic cucina and Pasticceria in Peoria where you can have your own custom cannolo created from flavors like a white chocolate-dipped shell stuffed with strawberry cheesecake or Nutella filling. That’s what I call a perfect game!
Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at [email protected] His new book: Travel Tattler – Not So Torrid Tales, may be purchased via Amazon.com Hear his radio talk show on 730 AM 1240 in Lansing weekdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
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