Australian Baseball League

Arizona is the spring host site of such teams as the two-time defending American League champions Texas Rangers, the reigning National League Central Division champions Milwaukee Brewers, and the 2011 NL West champions Arizona Diamondbacks, and though its day in the proverbial spring sun started later than its spring training counterpart state of Florida, Arizona has established itself as a premier destination for baseball fans at every level. Many ABL performers from the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons are already in Arizona getting ready for their 2012 North American campaigns.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Before Arizona even reached statehood, big league clubs were traveling to the desert to prepare for their upcoming seasons. In 1947, the Cleveland Indians and New York Giants set up shop in Arizona, the first permanent spring homes in the area and the next step in a progression that began in the late 1800s with major league organisations traveling to warm locales to start preparation for another year. In the late '40s and early '50s, the Indians and Giants joined forces with four clubs training in California's "Orange League" to form the western contingent of MLB's spring training.

Through the 1950s and '60s, the league evolved and began to grow as Major League Baseball expanded westward. As part of its continual growth that included the 1961 addition of the Los Angeles Angels to the American League and the Houston Astros to the National League in 1962, MLB looked to America's spacious and fast-growing west as its next frontier. In 1969, MLB welcomed four new clubs, three of them west of the Mississippi (Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres, and Seattle Mariners). The Cactus League thrived. Through the next two decades, the league boasted seven loyal anchor teams and, though the Grapefruit League tried luring away some organisations in the 1980s and '90s, Arizona's showcase spring circuit asserted itself as one of MLB's two hotbeds for preseason action.

BUILDING A BOOM
By the late 1990s, spring training had become a massive economic engine for both Arizona and Florida, and the facilities reflected that fact. The state of Arizona welcomed its homestanding Diamondbacks with a brand new ballpark in Tucson shared with the Chicago White Sox in 1998. That same year, the Brewers opened a new stadium of their own, and in 2003, the Kansas City Royals and Rangers jumped ship from Florida to call a state-of-the-art facility in Surprise, Arizona their spring home. Already with 12 teams, still, the league grew. In 2006, the White Sox announced an upcoming spring move to Glendale where they were joined by the Los Angeles Dodgers who shifted their operations to the desert after a 60-year stay in Vero Beach, Florida that dated back to the Dodgers' days in Brooklyn. With nearly all MLB clubs in Arizona residing around the Phoenix area, only the Diamondbacks and Rockies remained in Tucson, and that was soon to change as well.

2009 saw the Indians return after a 16-year stay in Florida, and their fellow Ohioans, the Cincinnati Reds, joined the Tribe in Goodyear by moving their spring operations west prior to 2010. In 2011, the D-Backs and Rockies moved from Tucson to the Phoenix area, becoming the final Cactus League teams to join the fray in the state capital's metropolitan surroundings.

One year ago, the Cactus League, with half of Major League Baseball's 30 teams calling it home for February and March, shattered attendance records league-wide. With all spring ballparks concentrated in and around Phoenix for the first time in 2011, a circuit-best 1,595,614 fans took in Cactus League action at 233 games. The league's newest jewel of a ballpark, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, debuted as the spring training home of the Diamondbacks and Rockies and immediately thrust itself on the scene as one of the leading venues in all of baseball. Arizona and Colorado finished first and second in the league in attendance with jaw-dropping jumps of 90% and 115% respectively. The facility was named Ballpark Digest's 2011 Ballpark of the Year and hosts its first contest of 2012 with its two resident teams taking on each other on Saturday, 3 March.

SIZING UP THE CACTUS LEAGUE
An assortment of ABL players and up-and-coming Australian performers call Arizona home during spring training. See below for information about Cactus League teams, ballparks, and some notable Aussies as well as current and former ABLers getting ready for their 2012 North American seasons in the desert.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Salt River Fields at Talking Stick
7555 North Pima Road
Scottsdale, Arizona 85258
(480)270-5000

Chicago Cubs
HoHoKam Stadium
1235 N. Center Street
Mesa, Arizona 85201
(480)964-4467
Notable Player: Ryan Rowland-Smith (NSW), Ryan Searle (Brisbane Bandits, 2010-present)

Chicago White Sox
Camelback Ranch
10701 West Camelback Rd.
Glendale, Arizona 85037
(623)302-5000

Cincinnati Reds
Goodyear Ballpark
1933 South Ballpark Way
Goodyear, Arizona, 85338
(623)882-3120
Notable Players: Didi Gregorious (Canberra Cavalry, 2010/11), Donald Lutz (Canberra Cavalry, 2010/11)

Cleveland Indians
Goodyear Ballpark
1933 South Ballpark Way
Goodyear, Arizona, 85338
(623)882-3120
Notable Players: Ryan Battaglia (Brisbane Bandits, 2010-present), Andrew Campbell (Brisbane Bandits, 2010-present), Chin-lung Hu (Adelaide Bite, 2011/12), Mitch Nilsson (Brisbane Bandits, 2010-present)

Colorado Rockies
Salt River Fields at Talking Stick
7555 North Pima Road
Scottsdale, Arizona 85258
(480)270-5000
Notable Player: David Kandilas (Sydney Blue Sox, 2010-present)

Kansas City Royals
Surprise Stadium
15850 North Bullard
Surprise, Arizona 85374
(623)222-2222
Notable Player: Steven Kent (Canberra Cavalry, 2010-present)

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Tempe Diablo Stadium
2200 W. Alameda Dr.
Tempe, Arizona 85282
(480)350-5205
Notable Players: Rich Thompson (Sydney Blue Sox, 2010/11), Vernon Wells (Sydney Storm, 1999)

Los Angeles Dodgers
Camelback Ranch
10701 West Camelback Rd.
Glendale, Arizona 85037
(623)302-5000
Notable Players: Shane Lindsay (Melbourne Aces, 2010-present), Trent Oeltjen (Sydney Blue Sox, 2010/11)

Milwaukee Brewers
Maryvale Baseball Park
3600 N. 51st Ave.
Phoenix, Arizona 85031
(623)245-5555

Oakland Athletics
Phoenix Municipal Stadium
5999 E. Van Buren
Phoenix, Arizona 85008
(602)392-0074
Notable Player: Grant Balfour (NSW)

San Diego Padres
Peoria Sports Complex
16101 N. 83rd Avenue
Peoria, Arizona 85382
Notable Player: Josh Spence (VIC)

San Francisco Giants
Scottsdale Stadium
7408 E. Osborn Road
Scottsdale, Arizona 85251
(480)312-2580
Notable Player: Travis Blackley (Melbourne Aces, 2010-present)

Seattle Mariners
Peoria Sports Complex
16101 N. 83rd Avenue
Peoria, Arizona 85382
Notable Players: Denny Almonte (Adelaide Bite, 2011/12), Brandon Bantz (Adelaide Bite, 2010/11), James McOwen (Adelaide Bite, 2010/11; Perth Heat 2011/12), Kevin Millwood (Melbourne Monarchs, 1997)

Texas Rangers
Surprise Stadium
15850 North Bullard
Surprise, Arizona 85374
(623)222-2222
Notable Players: Tim Stanford (NSW), Guy Edmonds (NSW)