Cactus League Baseball Spring Training

It's March, time for Cactus League Baseball Spring Training in Arizona. This is our third year, and we've looked forward to it very much.

In addition to great baseball at reasonable prices, there's sunshine. Our British Columbian skins have turned pretty pale, so a dose of natural Vitamin D is very welcome.

Two airlines can get us here from Bellingham, Washington. Allegiant has a non-stop flight to Mesa, Arizona. Alaska Airlines has a flight to Phoenix, but it requires a transfer in Seattle. This time we used Alaska with our mileage plan discount.

The Mariners and Padres share the Peoria Stadium.

The Cactus League includes fifteen major league baseball teams.

They include the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs and White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels and Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers. 
 

A night game under the light.

Each team has their own or a shared stadium for the season in the greater Phoenix region. Games are at 1:05 pm daily through early April. In addition, there are a few night games.

Prices vary by stadium, but general admission to the grass outfield berm is usually $10 and seats behind home plate go for around $35. That's a huge difference from regular league play tickets.


We are Mariners fans, so we went to several games at their home field in Peoria and one away game vs the Oakland Atheletics. Speaking of the Athletics, have you seen Moneyball? It tells the story of the general manager building his team and how the game is played.

We got a room at the La Quinta Inns and Suites across the street. It's within walking distance to stores, restaurants and, of course, the stadium. Rooms with free breakfast, Internet, and parking are $199 even in this prime season, and less with senior or AAA discounts. A fridge and microwave allowed us to easily use our mobile meal kit for three dinners.

For the fourth, we returned to the Texas Roadhouse across the street. Lots of good food at the happy hour price of $8.99! But a whole meal is hard to eat after sharing an enormous Cactus Blossom fried onion. Yum!

Baseball Spring Training is only the start of our Arizona trip. Next comes women's softball at Arizona State University in Tempe. Stay tuned. -- Margy