Why I Love the Ziz

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. I explain to her that I need to be in Phoenix at my scheduled time of arrival because I’ve got tickets for a ballgame. Not just any ball game, but the inaugural Opening Day game between the Cactus League’s historical first two teams, the San Francisco Giants and Cleveland Indians, at brand new Goodyear Ballpark. The Giants and Indians became the Cactus League’s founding fathers when they moved their spring training operations to Phoenix and Tucson, respectively, way back in 1947. The Giants have been training in Arizona—from Phoenix to Casa Grande to Scottsdale—ever since. The Indians were at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson from 1947-1992 and were now returning as the league’s prodigal son to their new west valley digs with the first game scheduled with their historical rival on this day.

I’m going to the game with two of my old best friends, Yodie and Rocko, our tickets are waiting at will call... Well I don’t tell her quite all that but I do suggest that I get on my flight and she can check my bags through on another. I’ll pick them at the airport later. She says that for security reasons she can’t check my bags on another flight. I ask, “Why? I’ve had to pick up bags that were misdirected before.” She says, “How would you like to be on a flight with somebody else’s luggage?” And I say, “You mean like every flight I’ve been on?” (Somebody hit the cymbal here).

Anyway, I was put on another flight with a lengthy layover in Philadelphia and finally arrived in Phoenix at just about game time. I was able to get the name changed on my tickets at will call so that at least my buddies could get into the game on time. I had to pick up a rental car and, by the time I found my way into the ballpark, I had already missed last call. As a hardcore fan I can’t really in good conscience count watching the last two innings of a game as official attendance. But I did get my first look at the fantastic new ballpark where the Cincinnati Reds are joining the Cleveland Indians as the Cactus League’s newest team this season.

I already love the Goodyear Ballpark. My favorite thing about it is the crazy piece of modern sculpture at the main entrance. Named for a giant water bird in Hebrew mythology, and created by American artist Donald Lipski, The Ziz, looks like some kind of elongated baseball crossed with a ship’s sail and a seagull. When I saw the 60 foot 6 inch (the distance between the major league pitcher’s mound and home plate) statue I thought to myself, how did we get here? It really looked like something out of this world. I wondered if people felt the same way back in 1966 when the then- brand new Phoenix Municipal Stadium made its Cactus League debut looking like a flying saucer. To me, The Ziz represents the latest era in the evolution of the Cactus League. The arrival of the Reds brings Arizona to a new high water mark of 15 major league teams, even up with Florida’s Grapefruit League for the first time in the 63-year history of the Cactus League.

I’ve been making the trip from Baltimore back to Arizona for the spring training season every year since moving from my home in Fountain Hills in 1999. And with each passing spring I’m continually amazed by how the league changes and grows. Even last year, in spite of dreadful economic conditions and new construction start-ups in Arizona at an almost all-time low, two new ballparks were added to the Cactus League landscape.

Just 10 years ago, who would have thought that the Cactus League would count as many teams as Florida’s Grapefruit League by now? When I left Arizona, just after the 1998 baseball season, I figured the Cactus League had probably reached its limit. The arrival or our own major league Arizona Diamondbacks and their new spring training ballpark in Tucson seemed like a final culmination for baseball fans in Arizona. Not only did we have another new spring training ballpark and two new teams (the Chicago White Sox were co-tenants at Tucson Electric Park) but a big league team and a big brand new ballpark in downtown Phoenix for the whole major league season. There was also a brand new spring training park in Maryvale for the Brewers and a new Hohokam Park in Mesa for the Cubs. Eight ballparks and 10 teams seemed like plenty. But in the time since, from 1998 to 2009 five more teams have joined the Cactus League in three new West Valley ballparks.

Back in 1994, when the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners moved into a shared new spring training facility in Peoria, I wasn’t really sure where the place was—I only knew it was west on Bell Road where the avenue numbers get higher. If I had driven that far west in the past, I was on my way to San Diego. As a Cactus League spring-training-fan my ballparks were: Scottsdale Stadium, Hohokam Park in Mesa, Phoenix Municipal Stadium, Tempe Diablo and Compadre Stadium way out in Chandler. We also made occasional road trips to Tucson.

In 2003 I was surprised to hear about a new ballpark in Surprise, AZ. I was surprised to find out there was a Surprise, AZ. But the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers became the 11th and 12th teams to join the league, and the Surprise Stadium complex was hailed as the new crown jewel of the league, until last year.

Almost as dramatic as the Dodgers’ move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958, was the team’s departure from its long-time Vero Beach, FL spring training home. The “Dodgertown” exodus came as a shock to Florida fans and the baseball community at large. It must have taken something big for the Dodgers to leave their 61- year spring training home.

The Camelback Ranch facility in Glendale is more than something big. Located just west of the 101 Loop on the corner of Camelback Road and 111th Avenue, the Glendale Ballpark designed by HKS architects of Dallas, TX, is the Cactus League’s largest ballpark with 10,000 permanent seats and a seating capacity of 3,000 on the outfield berm. The Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority provided two-thirds of the funding for the $90 million facility, while the city of Glendale picked up the remainder of the tab.

A centerpiece attraction of the complex is a curvaceous man-made lake, which creates a public park-like atmosphere and serves a functional purpose as an irrigation source for all of its green surroundings. The lake also divides the Dodgers’ and White Sox’s sides of facility with each team utilizing six of 12 surrounding practice fields.

I made it in time for the first game between the Dodgers and White Sox at the new park on March 1st, 2009. My first and lasting impression is the sheer enormousness of the place. It was a long walk from the parking lot to the entrance and once inside another long walk around the lake and grounds to get to the ballpark itself. The lower seating bowl feels as big as the field level section in most big league ballparks. The Opening Day crowd of 11,280, while not quite a sellout, was huge just the same.

In Glendale I stayed at the historic Wigwam resort, which is a great location if you’re going to the ballpark because most of the traffic is coming from the opposite direction. Camelback ranch is about five miles due east of the Wigwam and takes less than 10 minutes to get there.

The quiet and peaceful Wigwam is what these type of resort properties were originally intended to be before a lot of them became non-stop party palaces. The soaring and stately palm trees are testament to the 80-year resort’s history.

The Wigwam is the official spring training resort of the Kansas City Royals and preferred hotel of Camelback Ranch. Special spring training packages including a two-night stay in one of the Oasis Terrace rooms or traditional Adobe Suites, a pair of infield tickets and game day parking for Dodgers and White Sox games at Camelback Ranch or Royals games at Surprise Stadium for a total cost $399.

The coolest place to go after a game in Glendale or Goodyear is Haus Murphy’s German Restaurant and Beer Garden at 5739 W. Glendale Ave. in Dowtown Glendale. We sat in the beer garden outside and washed down sausages, pretzels and potato pancakes with huge steins of German beer. The dinner menu contains seven styles of Schnitzel, and nine kinds of sausages, as well as a variety of Haus specialties. You can get really comfortable here and the owners encourage you to stay for as long as you like.

For Breakfast, Cee Cee’s on the Corner (7123 N. 58th Ave.) is charming converted house in the Historic Glendale neighborhood serving very home-style Mexican food.

As I attend more games in the new West Valley ballparks, I hope to discover more about their surroundings.

Like Surprise and Peoria, the arrival of a major league team in Goodyear (another previously anonymous destination) signifies the growth of both the Cactus League and the entire state of Arizona. Should we be surprised to see it continue? Have both the league and Arizona reached the saturation point? Even without new teams, the evolution of the league continues. Next year the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies will be moving their spring operations together to a new ballpark in Scottsdale and, at least for the time being, Tucson will become the next Cactus League ghost town. No matter what next season brings, I just hope to get to the airport in time to board my flight to catch all of the next game. My clothes are on their own.