Login

Register | Forgot Your Password? | Close

There are so many waxing nostalgic about Tucson spring training since it's over. The D-backs last game at Tucson Electric Park was Tuesday. Their last game in Tucson was Wednesday.

It's amazing how many articles and news features I keep reading and hearing about the years of spring training in Tucson. There's even an AP article on our Web site that says "D-backs take their balls and bats and leave." This article actually suggests that the D-backs have stuck the fans of Tucson for paying for something that's unfair.

The D-backs had a Tucson day against the Brewers this year to celebrate their years in Tucson. Everybody wants to reminisce about the years of Tucson spring training.

There's one thing that no one seems to have the guts to say: SPRING TRAINING IN TUCSON SUCKS!

If the fans of Tucson wanted the D-backs, let me present a novel idea: GO TO THE GAMES! The D-backs are in second place almost every year of spring training in ROAD attendance but always near the bottom in home attendance. The Tucson Sidewinders rarely finished outside the bottom four in Triple-A baseball attendance.

The contracts were simple. If there are only two teams in Tucson the Rockies can leave. If the D-backs are alone in Tucson, they can leave. If Tucson didn't want to lose the D-backs, why take the $5 million from Chicago to allow the White Sox out of their contract? Once they did that, they started the dominoes.

Holding your spring training in Tucson does two things: puts you at a competitive disadvantage and loses money. Most teams hold work-outs in the morning then go through batting practice. The benefit of the Cactus League is you then get on a bus for a 15-35 minute drive to your game if you're on the road. Maricopa County spring training is the most efficient than anywhere in MLB.

The money loss comes from the lack of stars that come to Tucson. Veteran players can get their work done in Phoenix and play in a "B" game and save four hours on a bus by avoiding Tuscon all together. Diamondback players spend so much time on a bus while other teams are working to get better for the season.

It's not just about the big league clubs. In Tucson, almost every morning the D-backs and Rockies have minor league games. How do you learn anything when you play the same guys every day? The Reds have seven teams within 20 minutes to play minor league games against.

The citizens of Tuscon owe nothing to the D-backs. They have every right to make the decision to do nothing to improve Hi-Corbett Field for the Rockies. They can do anything they want instead of going to D-backs spring games and Sidewinder games. Just don't give me the whining and sob story about Tucson spring training coming to a close.

The era ended because fans and politicians sat around hoping it wouldn't end but did nothing to stop it.

7 Comments   |   Join the conversation »
  • Add A Comment 
  • Abuse
    cros1eyfie1d wrote...
    wrong
    the taxpayers of Pima County are still on the hook for $22 million of the $30 million it took to build TEP. it's true that the Sidewinders were never popular, but they had no historic attachment to the city of Tucson, nor does TEP. it's convenient to not mention that last season, the Tucson Toros were completely supported by the locals (even in their "first" year as a new franchise) to the tune of over 300,000 tickets being sold, more than doubling the second-place team in the GBL.
  • Abuse
    Jarrod P. wrote...
    Tucson
    I could not agree more. This is not a case of the big bad major league team leaving in the darkness of night. Tucson either knew that this would occur or they are truly clueless. Finally, the Diamondbacks can join the civilization known as the Cactus League. TEP makes Sun Devil Stadium seem like a top notch stadium. Jarrod P
  • Abuse
    Michael B. wrote...
    Inferiority complex
    I think this is just more of that Tucson inferiority complex tat people from there have. They're always made at people from Phoenix, and anyone I know who went to U of A acts like they went to Oxford and that anyone who went to ASU went to a community college (I went to neither, so no bias). I went on a road trip to Tucson for a D-backs game, and it was cool, but not worth the drive. It was smart for them to have spring training down there as a way to establish a statewide fan base, but there's no need for it now. I’m looking forward to D-backs spring training next year!
  • Abuse
    Robert T. wrote...
    So what you are saying
    Are you saying that Tucson fans should not feel bad about losing baseball? Are you saying that the fans who did go to the games should say "Yep, I deserve this as punishment for not forcing more of my friends to go at gunpoint and not spending my own money on improving the ballpark". Tucson lost, no need to rub it in their face, let them have their last hurrah, you saying they deserve it, after "your side" won, is petty and hurtful.
  • Abuse
    Jarrod P. wrote...
    To Robert
    Thank you mayor of Tucson and please send Doug the link for sensitivity training class.. Hurtful? Really? All Doug did is point out simple facts.
  • Abuse
    wp wrote...
    Doug skews facts with his narrow-mindedness
    I had a spirited email exchange with Doug a few weeks ago on this, when he ridiculed the lack of true baseball fans there. He cited the Sidewinders' finishing near the bottom of AAA baseball attendance, ignoring the Phx Firebirds' same issue. Per a mid-90's article: "Despite crafting one of the more dominant seasons in recent PCL history, Phoenix ranks last in home attendance in the PCL with a 2,964 average." Expect Tucsonans to turn their back on the D'Backs, and who in their right mind can blame them? Way to go D'Backs (and Doug) for showing zero class during this entire ordeal.
  • Abuse
    David O. wrote...
    Tucson
    Tucson really did mess this deal from the get go, now TEP will become a rundown unused eyesore. However Dave, you tend to knock Tucson at every given moment on the radio. Tucson does not want to be Phoenix so the only comparison is in your mind. Tucson and Phoenix are very different and they are both beautiful cities in AZ.
close

Share: