Spring Training lingo
Baseball doesn’t start its regular season for a few weeks yet, but it’s hard to avoid hearing things like “now for your Cactus League scores” on your late night local newscast. Not familiar with baseball’s spring training and why they seem to play a million games before a single one even counts? Let me color you on some of the basics.
All 30 MLB teams play their spring training games at facilities either in Arizona or Florida. Each team has its own facility or shares one with another team (White Sox and Dodgers for example). Previously, spring training sites were everywhere from California to Hawaii to Indiana, but money and the convenience of available competition narrowed it down to the two current states. There is no relation between a team’s league (American or National) and where they choose to hold their spring training.
Currently, there are 15 teams each training in both states, making it easy to schedule plenty of games, although the wetter spring conditions in Florida have caused several teams to consider the dryer pastures of Arizona (although Arizona has been unseasonably wet the past few weeks).
The MLB teams mostly play each other, traveling by bus to the neighboring facilities, but college teams will also take part in the games when needed. As you might expect, nobody cares about wins and losses or even statistics (unless you’re a fringe player trying to make the team). Spring training games are for pitchers to get their arm strength back while working on new pitches/arm slots/deliveries/mechanics/etc. without the fear of losing or suffering some inflated statistics. Hitters develop their timing and get used to the routine. Yes, games even end in ties!
Now for some oft-heard lingo:
Split-squad: The common practice of sending half a roster to one game while the other half stays back to play another game. The purpose is to give as many players as possible plenty of at-bats and innings pitched.
Cactus League: The nickname for the group of teams that play in Arizona (Cubs, A’s, Giants, Mariners, etc.)
Grapefruit League: The nickname for the group of teams that play in Florida (Yankees, Mets, Braves, Red Sox, etc.)
Unless you are in a fantasy league, you probably don’t need to start paying attention to baseball until April rolls around, but at least now you’ll understand what the die-hards are talking about in March.
Bonus note: the Dodgers held their spring training in Cuba in the 1947, while the Yankees also spent a few years there.1
Read on:
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment