Arizona's Pastime

Saluting the boys of spring

Comments (0) By Clay McNear Thursday, Jan 8 2009

Some say baseball is a dying sport. Too much strategery, say its pinheaded critics, too few highlights à la the NFL and NBA. You wouldn’t know it by standing at the intersection of Van Buren and Galvin on one of those glorious March days when the Oakland A’s are hosting a Cactus League home game. Or at any of the other Valley intersections where baseball fans from around the globe gather to pay homage to Major League ball. Even small-market teams like the A’s and barking dogs like the Kansas City Royals sell out in the heightened atmosphere of Cactus League, ’cause C-League ball still feels like America’s Pastime. Certainly, Arizona’s.

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Arizona baseball, from its Territorial days to the present, is the subject of the new “Play Ball: The Cactus League Experience” exhibit, which includes ton of never-before-displayed C-League memorabilia and, according to the press release, “an infield complete with vintage dugout, sky mural, and interactive souvenir, concession, and ticket booths.”

Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: Jan. 10. Continues through Nov. 7, 2009