We made our first spring training road trips to Tucson when the Cleveland Indians were still playing at Hi Corbett Field in the late 1980s. We used to pack as many of us as we could into cars and hotel rooms for a weekend’s worth of ballgames and shenanigans when were just becoming old enough to drink beer legally in ball- parks and bars. Our Hunter S. Thompson-esque gonzo road trips to Tucson left indelible marks on the nostalgic hemispheres of our brains.

So I arrive at the check-in gate about 45 minutes before my scheduled 7 a.m. flight and the passenger handler at the departure counter informs me that it’s too late for me to check luggage for my flight. It’s about 6:15 a.m. and I’m the only person on line.

On behalf of everyone at Arizona Key Magazine, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Arizona, the Grand Canyon state. The month of March is dominated by baseball... it’s Spring Training season and Arizona welcomes visitors from around the world to this annual right of passage.

We’re still not sure how the Texas Rangers managed to play to the level they did last year. The Rangers improved by eight games and finished above .500 for just the third time in the past 10 years

Improving by 24 games from the previous season under first year manager Don Wakamatsu the Seattle Mariners surprising return to contention was sparked by its pitching staff’s American League best 3.87 ERA.

Perhaps the big league’s biggest surprise, freed from the constraints of the Barry Bonds albatross that hung from the Giant’s neck, a loosey-goosey bunch of overachievers improved by 16 games

The San Diego Padres succeeded on at least one account if slashing payroll was foremost on the team’s agenda, a cut of nearly 50 percent from $73 million to $43 million was the largest drop in the majors.

If Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane has something up his sleeve it’s about time he pulled it out. For the past three years the A’s finished the season with almost exactly the same record losing one more game in 2009 than they did in 2008 and 2007

After another surprising second place finish in 2008 marked Milwaukee’s first post season appearance in 26 years, but like Bernie the Brewer sliding down into a foamy mug of beer the Brewers fell back

The drama started right away for Tinseltown’s Dodgers. First there was the Manny Ramirez situation. Following an incredible stretch run performance which pretty-much singlehandedly captured