Spring training

A 2004 Grapefruit League game at the LA Dodgers' former camp in Vero Beach, Florida

In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play. Spring training has always attracted fan attention, drawing crowds who travel to the warmer climates to enjoy the weather and watch their favorite teams play, and spring training usually coincides with spring break for many US college students.

Spring training typically starts in mid February and continues until just before Opening Day of the regular season, traditionally the first week of April. In some years, teams not scheduled to play on Opening Day will play spring training games that day. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training first because pitchers benefit from a longer training period. A few days later, the position players arrive and team practice begins. Team members normally wear their batting practice uniforms for the duration of spring training and only wear their normal jerseys beginning on Opening Day.

History

A 2007 Cactus League game between the Cubs and the White Sox at HoHoKam Park.

Spring training by major league teams in sites other than their regular season game sites first became popular in the 1890s and by 1910 was in wide use. Hot Springs, Arkansas has been called the original "birthplace" of Spring Training baseball. The location of Hot Springs and the concept of getting the players ready for the upcoming season was the brainchild of Chicago White Stockings (today's Chicago Cubs) team President Albert Spalding and Cap Anson. In 1886, the White Stockings traveled to Hot Springs to prepare for the upcoming season.[1][2] Practicing at the Hot Springs Baseball Grounds, the White Stockings had a successful season and other teams took notice and began holding spring training in Hot Springs.[2] The Cleveland Spiders, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Red Sox followed the White Stockings to Hot Springs. Whittington Park/Ban Johnson Park (1894), Majestic Park (1909) and Fogel Field (1912) were all built in Hot Springs to host Major League teams.[3][4]

1885 Chicago White Stockings (known today as the Chicago Cubs) Top Row: George Gore, Silver Flint, Cap Anson, Jim McCormick, Mike 'King' Kelly, Fred Pfeffer; Bottom Row: Jimmy Ryan, Ned Williamson, Abner Dalrymple, Tom Burns, Jim Clarkson, Billy Sunday

Famously, a young pitcher named Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox was playing an emergency game at First Base on St. Patrick's Day, 1918, his first time playing the field. Ruth would hit two Home Runs that day in Hot Springs, and the second was a 573-foot shot that landed across the street from Whittington Park in a pond of the Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo. Soon he was playing the field more often.[5][6][7] Over 130 Major League Baseball Hall of Famers, including such names as Ruth, Cy Young, Cap Anson, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Walter Johnson, Rogers Hornsby, Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx were involved in Hot Springs Spring Training games .[8] The First Boys of Spring is a 2015 documentary about Hot Springs Spring Training. The film was narrated by area native, actor Billy Bob Thornton and produced by filmmaker Larry Foley.[9][10][11] The documentary began airing nationally on the MLB Network in February, 2016.[12]

Babe Ruth hit a 573-foot home run in spring training, 1918. He led the league with 11 Home Runs and had a 13-7 record as the Red Sox won the 1918 World Series

Early training sites include the St. Louis Cardinals in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma; the New York Yankees in New Orleans and later Phoenix, Arizona, when the team was owned by Del Webb; the Chicago Cubs in Los Angeles when owned by William Wrigley Jr.; the St. Louis Browns and later the Kansas City Athletics in San Diego then in West Palm Beach, Florida; the Pittsburgh Pirates in Honolulu and other teams joined in by the early 1940s. The Detroit Tigers are credited with being the first team to conduct spring training camp in Arizona. They trained in Phoenix at Riverside Park at Central Avenue and the Salt River in 1929.[13]

The Philadelphia Phillies were the first of the current major-league teams to train in Florida, when they spent two weeks in Jacksonville, Florida in 1889.[14] Spring training in Florida began in earnest in 1913, when the Chicago Cubs played in Tampa, and the Cleveland Indians in Pensacola. One year later, two other teams moved to Florida for spring training, the real start of the Grapefruit League. And except for a couple of years during World War II, when travel restrictions prevented teams training south of the Potomac and Ohio rivers, Florida hosted more than half of the spring training teams through 2009. Since 2010, major league teams have been equally divided during spring training, with 15 teams in Florida and 15 teams in Arizona.[15] All but six of the major league teams have gone to spring training in Florida at one time or another. Many of the most famous players in baseball history (Ruth, Gehrig, Musial, Cobb, Mays, DiMaggio, Berra, Mantle, and many more) have called Florida home for 4–6 weeks every spring.[16]

According to the autobiography of former Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck, the avoidance of racism was one reason the Cactus League was established.[17] In 1947, Veeck was the owner of the minor league Milwaukee Brewers and the team trained in Ocala, Florida. Veeck inadvertently sat in the Black section of the segregated stands and engaged in conversation with a couple of fans. According to Veeck's book, the local law enforcement told Veeck he could not sit in that section, and then called the Ocala mayor when Veeck argued back. The mayor finally backed down when Veeck threatened to take his team elsewhere for spring training and promised to let the country know why.

Main article: Baseball color line

Veeck sold the Brewers in 1945 and retired to his ranch in Tucson, Arizona, but soon purchased the Cleveland Indians in 1946. He decided to buck tradition and train the Indians in Tucson and convinced the New York Giants to give Phoenix a try. Thus the Cactus League was born.[18] Veeck then signed Larry Doby to the Indians. Doby was the second African-American to play MLB in the 20th century, and the first for the American League.[19]

While Florida and Arizona now host all Major League Baseball teams for spring training, this has not always been the case. The Brooklyn Dodgers trained in Havana, Cuba in 1947 and 1949, and in the Dominican Republic in 1948.[20] The New York Yankees also trained in the early 1950s in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Spring training camps and games were also held in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and various cities of northern Mexico, sometimes by visiting major league teams in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Braves Spring Training game against the Mets in 2008.

During World War II, most teams held an abbreviated spring training within easy reach of their cities. In order to conserve rail transport during the war, 1943's Spring Training was limited to an area east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River. The Chicago White Sox held camp in French Lick, Indiana; the Washington Senators in College Park, Maryland; and the New York Yankees in Asbury Park, New Jersey.[21]

Before and shortly after big league baseball reached the West Coast, a number of teams trained in the state of California or along the state boundary. The Chicago Cubs trained on Catalina Island in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. For example, early in their history, the then-California Angels held spring training in Palm Springs, California from 1961 to 1993, the San Diego Padres in Yuma, Arizona from 1969 to 1993, the Oakland Athletics in Las Vegas in the 1970s, and various major league teams had trained in Riverside, San Bernardino, and El Centro near the Mexican border.

The concept of spring training is not limited to North America; the Japanese professional baseball leagues' teams adopted spring training and preseason game sites across East Asia such as South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan; the Pacific Islands (most notably in Hawaii); and two cities in the United States: Salinas, California and Yuma, Arizona on the Mexican border.

Spring training locations by team

Generally, teams train in either Florida or Arizona based on their geographic location in the U.S., with eastern teams playing in Florida and western teams training in Arizona; the exceptions being the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, and the two Chicago-based teams all training in Arizona. The last west-coast team to train in Florida was the Los Angeles Dodgers, who moved to Arizona in 2009.

In modern training, teams that train in Florida will play other Florida-training teams in their exhibition games, regardless of regular-season league affiliations. Likewise, Arizona-training teams will play other Arizona teams. These have been nicknamed the Grapefruit League and Cactus League, respectively, after plants typical of the respective states. The teams can play colleges, minor league baseball clubs, intra-squad games (members of the same team play against each other), split-squad games (games when one team is scheduled for two games in one day, so the team splits into two squads and each squad plays in one of the games), and B Games (unofficial Spring Training games where statistics and standings are not counted).[22] In years when the World Baseball Classic occurs, the national teams in the tournament prepare by playing major league teams.

The Peoria Sports Complex hosts the Padres and Mariners.

Grapefruit League

The origin of the name "Grapefruit League" has several versions. One popular myth was that Casey Stengel threw a grapefruit at Brooklyn Dodgers manager Wilbert Robinson. The accepted version is that aviator Ruth Law threw the grapefruit. In 1915, Law had been throwing golf balls from her airplane to advertise a golf course. Someone suggested throwing a baseball from her airplane. Robinson, whose team was in the Daytona Beach area for spring training, agreed to try to catch the baseball. Flying 525 feet above Robinson, Law realized she had forgotten her baseball and threw a grapefruit that she had. When Robinson tried to catch it, the grapefruit exploded in his face.[23][24][25]

Cactus League

Unlike the Grapefruit League, teams in the Cactus League often share stadiums; of the 15 teams who train in Arizona, only the Cubs, Angels, Brewers, Giants and A's have their own home stadiums.

The newest stadium built for MLB spring training is Sloan Park, the spring training home for the Chicago Cubs in Mesa, Arizona, which opened in February 2014.

According to the Arizona Republic, the Cactus League generates more than $300 million a year in economic impact to the greater Phoenix metropolitan area economy. The Arizona Republic newspaper reports that more than $500 million has been spent on "building eight new stadiums and renovating two others for the 15 teams in the Valley."[26]

Attendance set a new record at 2011 Cactus League games with 1.59 million attending games at the various stadiums in the Phoenix metro area. Much of the attendance surge is attributed to the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick venue that accounted for 22 percent of the Cactus League attendance.[27]

Statistics

Statistics are recorded during spring training games, but they are not combined with the listed statistics for regular season games, and unusual performances which would have broken records if accomplished during the regular season are considered to be unofficial.

For example, on March 14, 2000, the Red Sox used six pitchers to achieve a 5–0 perfect game victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. A perfect game is considered a crowning accomplishment during the regular season or postseason, but in spring training it attracts little notice. Starting pitcher Pedro Martínez, who lost a perfect game in extra innings in 1995 while pitching for the former Montreal Expos, was talking to reporters at the conclusion of the game, rather than watching the final pitches. Reliever Rod Beck, who finished the game, did not realize the nature of his accomplishment until informed by catcher Joe Sidall. Many fans also left before the game's conclusion.[28]

Although spring training statistics are unofficial, teams frequently use players' spring training performances as a way of assigning starting roles and roster spots on the club.

Extended spring training

An extended spring training game between the Red Sox and Orioles in Sarasota, Florida during the 2008 season.

Minor league players participate in spring training following a telescoped schedule that generally lasts from March 1–31. At its conclusion, most players are assigned to full-season Class A, AA, or AAA farm team rosters to begin the regular minor league season. However, those players deemed unready for a full-season campaign—through inexperience or injury—are assigned to "extended spring training", a structured program of workouts, rehabilitation sessions, simulated games, and exhibition games based in the major league parent team's minor league training complex. If a player is deemed ready to participate in full-season league action, he is promoted to an appropriate-level farm club. When the "short season" Class A and rookie leagues begin play in late June, extended spring training players are assigned to those rosters, placed on the disabled list, or released.

References

  1. ↑ "arlington hotel, oaklawn, gangster museum, hot springs baseball trail, historical landmarks - Hot Springs, Arkansas".
  2. 1 2 "Major League Spring Training in Hot Springs - Encyclopedia of Arkansas".
  3. ↑ "Ban Johnson Park-Whittington Park/Majestic Park/Fogel Field - Hot Springs Arkansas - Major League Spring Training grounds".
  4. ↑ "Untold Stories".
  5. ↑ "From a Fan: Rare Photos of Babe Ruth in Hot Springs Babe Ruth Central: Babe Ruth, Babe Ruth Photos, Babe Ruth Statistics, Babe Ruth Biography".
  6. ↑ Budd Bailey. "Road Trips!".
  7. ↑ "Bill Jenkinson".
  8. ↑ "Historic Baseball Trail Documenting Hot Springs as Birthplace of Spring Baseball Will Open on March 29; 45 Percent of Hall of Fame, Other Legendary Players Included". Yahoo Finance. 26 March 2012.
  9. ↑ "Boys of Spring - Arkansas Life".
  10. ↑ "Home".
  11. ↑ "Larry Foley". Larry Foley.
  12. ↑ http://m.mlb.com/news/article/164344220/mlb-network-to-air-first-boys-of-spring-doc
  13. ↑ The Arizona Republic: "Cactus League: Then and Now." Source: Rodney Johson, the Society for American Baseball Research. March 6, 2011.
  14. ↑ Philadelphia Inquirer, March 1889; SABR Spring Training Database, http://sabr.org/content/spring-training-database (restricted access), Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  15. ↑ Johnson, Rodney (2012). "From Dust to Diamonds: The Evolution of the Cactus League". CactusLeague.com. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  16. ↑ Arsenault, Raymond. "Spring Training Baseball in Florida – Our Roots Run Deep". Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  17. ↑ Veeck, Bill and Linn, Edward (2001). Veeck as in Wreck: The Autobiography of Bill Veeck. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-671-67540-0. pgs. 171–172.
  18. ↑ "Buckhorn Baths: A unique Mesa landmark".
  19. ↑ "Larry Doby" Retrieved 2010-03-20.
  20. ↑ Echevarría, Roberto González (1988). "The '47 Dodgers on Havana: Baseball at a Crossroads". Spring Training. Vanguard Publications. Retrieved January 10, 2007.
  21. ↑ Suehsdorf, A. D. (1978). The Great American Baseball Scrapbook, p. 103. Random House. ISBN 0-394-50253-1.
  22. ↑ "Thomas debuts in B game". Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  23. ↑ Gardner, Dakota (March 13, 2014). "The amazing story of 'Uncle Robbie' Robinson's plane-assisted grapefruit catch". mlb.com.
  24. ↑ "Wilbert Robinson". National Baseball Hall of Fame.
  25. ↑ Semchuck, Alex. "Wilbert Robinson". Society for American Baseball Research.
  26. ↑ "Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies break in new park".
  27. ↑ The Arizona Republic. "A successful spring: New venue helps Cactus League set attendance mark." Peter Corbett. March 30, 2011.
  28. ↑ "Martinez, 5 relievers pitch perfect game", Jimmy Golen, the Associated Press, published March 15, 2000, Retrieved February 22, 2007.

Further reading

External links

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