There are the popular Spring Break destinations: Panama City Beach, South Padre or anywhere else bathed in sun and soaking in booze. There is the alternate Spring Break, where students dedicate the week to helping those in need or furthering their resumes. Among the remaining, there are those who choose to attend spring training baseball games in either Arizona or Florida. For some, this might just be the best option to spend that glorious week off.
I spent my Spring Break in Mesa, Ariz., where I watched the Cubs play games against other teams in the Cactus League, which includes the 15 teams that play in Arizona; The Grapefruit League is played in Florida. These leagues aren’t separated by the American League and National League, however. The Cubs, White Sox and Brewers play in Arizona, while the Cardinals, Red Sox and Yankees play in Florida.
Probably the nicest thing about heading out to Arizona for spring training games is that there are multiple games every single day, so you can switch up the teams you’re watching if you’d like. Not to mention that all 15 of the fields are within about 45 minutes of each other, so travelling between stadiums is both easy and, since Arizona has an obviously different terrain than Illinois, quite beautiful. However, if you feel like staying put and seeing your team at the home stadium, there’s a home game almost every day. Oftentimes the teams play with a split squad, meaning that half the team stays at home to play, while the other half goes on the road.
Spring training games are much more lax, at least for the fans, than regular season games. First of all, tickets are far cheaper and much easier to come by. At Hohokam Park, where the Cubs play, you can show up an hour before the game and still buy lawn tickets for only $9. Lawn seats let you choose to sit anywhere in the outfield and are completely bathed in sunlight, which could either be a blessing or a curse. Either way, using some SPF 30 is a good choice, as the Arizona sun is harsh. Vendors are constantly walking by, offering beer, pop, cotton candy and even chocolate covered fruit on sticks. If you’d rather sit on a real seat or if you prefer the shade, grandstand tickets are available as well, but are about $20 more expensive.
The games themselves are different as well. Usually the normal, regular season starters start a Spring Training game, but by the fourth or fifth inning, the players who need to prove themselves start making their way on the field. Spring Training is practice for all the teams, but it’s primarily a chance for the younger plays to prove that they deserve a spot on the 40-man roster. For example, last season it was assumed that Blake DeWitt would be the Cubs’ starting second baseman, but Darwin Barney had a much better Spring Training than DeWitt and consequently won the position. So when a non-starting infielder makes a throwing error in the eighth inning, instead of being angry, it’s almost hard not to feel bad for him. The players are under an intense amount of pressure to perform well and make stellar plays, and they’re just trying to make themselves relevant. On the other hand, if they can’t perform under pressure, then they’re not ready for the bigs, anyway.
When you start planning for next year’s Spring Break, give a spring training baseball trip a thought. Specifically all you baseball lovers, because South Padre may have sun and surf, but they definitely don’t have Starlin Castro.