Catch the Royals, Cubs in the desert for spring training

Call it a different form of March madness, trading indoor basketball arenas for baseball stadiums in the desert. This month nearly 2 million people will attend Cactus League games at 10 stadiums in the greater Phoenix area where 15 Major League Baseball teams, including the Kansas City Royals, prepare for the upcoming season.

Ned Yost on what he expects to see from the Royals at this part of spring training 

Florida’s Grapefruit League is home to the other 15 MLB teams and has hosted pre-season baseball for 129 years. The Cactus League is celebrating 70 years this season, having lured half the major league teams to the desert with an equal abundance of sunshine and new stadiums built specifically for spring training. Where Florida’s stadiums are located on both coasts, all of the Cactus League stadiums are clustered together in the Phoenix area, the farthest from the city center being Hohokam Stadium in Mesa on the southeast edge of Phoenix, and Surprise Stadium, home of the Royals, in the town of Surprise to the northwest.

For families or baseball fanatics, Phoenix in March can be a dream destination – and it’s a nonstop flight from Wichita. Two airlines offer direct flights: Southwest Airlines flies daily to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, and Allegiant Air flies twice a week to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Allegiant has as many as four flights a week in March to accommodate increased spring break travel. A check this week of fares shows a trip on either airline later this month could cost as low as $250 with carefully chosen dates of travel.

The Royals relocated their spring training from Florida to Arizona in 2003, moving into a new $48 million complex they share with the Texas Rangers. Surprise Stadium seats 10,714 and the Royals averaged 6,700 fans per game in 2014, then 7,500 per game in 2015 and 8,400 per game in 2016 after winning the World Series. This month crowds have witnessed Mike Moustakas bat as a designated hitter and play third base for the first time since tearing his ACL in May 2016, and they’re watching several pitchers battle for the fifth spot in the team’s rotation.

Spring training 101

Games this year started Feb. 25 and run through April 1, and there are games scheduled daily. Most games are played at 1 p.m. to take advantage of the sunny, warm daytime temperatures, although a few night games are played each week. Take note that the final few days of the schedule feature spring training games held in other cities. For example the Royals play the Rangers in Arlington on March 31 and April 1. The last full day of games in Phoenix is on March 29.

Ticket prices vary by stadium, and some are charging more for premium matchups or using dynamic pricing, letting demand drive prices. You can buy tickets in advance online or at the gate; however, some games – mostly those involving the Chicago Cubs – do sell out. If you’re interested in a seat in the shade, it’s best to talk to someone in the stadium’s ticket office. In general across the league, lawn seats start at $7 and reserved seating starts at $12. As an example, a seat two rows behind home plate for a Milwaukee versus Kansas City game at Maryvale Baseball Park was $18 while the same seat at Arizona versus Kansas City at Salt River Fields cost $37.

At Surprise Stadium, where Kansas City’s home side is third base, tickets start at $8 for lawn seats. Reserved seating includes $19 plaza seats, $25 infield seats and $30 for seats behind home plate. They charge $5 extra for premium games. Surprise also sells seats in the Four Peaks Party Pavilion in right centerfield. You can purchase a pavilion ticket for $30 or upgrade your existing reserved ticket for $15, giving you access to covered general admission seating, a catered meal and one drink voucher. Fans enjoy the pavilion’s televisions tuned into the other March Madness and visits from Sluggerrr, the Royals’ mascot.

If you’re an autograph seeker, most teams take batting practice on their home practice fields each morning, and those generally open to the public around 9 a.m. You can also catch some players closer to game time on the walkways from the home clubhouse to the ballpark.

Baseball and more

With a rental car, it’s easy to park-hop among the Cactus League. Half the stadiums are in the west valley and half in the east valley. Logistically, you’ll drive fewer miles if you plan your trip by region, but it’s still not that far to any of the stadiums. There’s 50 miles between the two farthest stadiums (Surprise and Hohokam). With first pitch most often at 1 p.m., you have plenty of time before and after the game to take in nearby attractions or enjoy resort amenities.

Three seasons ago, my husband flew from Wichita to Mesa on Allegiant and saw five games in four days by basing his stay at the Residence Inn Phoenix NW/Surprise next to Surprise Stadium. Besides seeing the Royals play a game there, he saw games in the communities of Peoria, Goodyear and Scottsdale. He followed the Royals for a few games but also ventured out to see different stadiums.

Surprise Stadium is part of a 124-acre recreational campus that includes an aquatic center, tennis complex, community park and a library. If you’re planning to visit other ballparks and bigger Phoenix attractions, though, you might want to choose a more central base since Surprise is the farthest northwest of the stadiums.

Ten miles east of Surprise Stadium is Peoria Sports Complex, where Seattle and San Diego play. This was the first shared spring training complex, opening in 1994, and it just finished a major renovation of its 12,518 seats, field, scoreboard and a coastal themed playground with a splash pad to tie in with the hometowns of its two teams. The stadium is across the street from P83, an entertainment district with more than 20 restaurants and bars as well as a movie theater, a professional dinner theater and Modern Round, a virtual shooting lounge. There are a number of hotels and other attractions nearby.

Even more centrally located are two Hilton all-suite resorts that allow guests to enjoy both properties’ features – pools, water parks, golf courses, spas and a shuttle up to A Different Pointe of View restaurant, which at 1,800 feet above the valley is the perfect spot at sunset. Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort is eight miles north of Sky Harbor International Airport, and Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort is 18 miles from the airport. If you’re flying on Allegiant at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, Mesa would also make a good base and has many hotel options (visitmesa.com).

In the east valley, Mesa has two stadiums, Scottsdale has two, and there’s one in Tempe. Scottsdale’s Salt River Fields, home to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies, is surrounded by a playground of attractions, from Talking Stick Resort, Casino and Golf Club to TopGolf to OdySea, a multi-level aquarium that opened in fall 2016 among a new entertainment development with other attractions, shops and restaurants.

Scottsdale Stadium is near Old Town and downtown Scottsdale. Next door to the ballpark is the Arizona Spring Training Experience and Cactus League Hall of Fame, curated by the Mesa Historical Museum and housed inside Scottsdale’s Civic Center Library. The collection features hundreds of objects and photos documenting Arizona’s baseball history beginning in the late 1800s, and a new exhibit running through spring training offers a retrospective of the Cactus League’s first 70 years. There are also two ballpark installations of the exhibit on display this month at Tempe Diablo Stadium and Goodyear Stadium.

The newest and largest Cactus League ballpark is Sloan Park in Mesa, which opened in 2014 for the most watched team in the league, the Chicago Cubs. Already a tough ticket, Cubs’ spring training games at home and on the road have been selling out this year with the team coming off its first world championship since 1908. The stadium seats nearly 15,000 and is often called Wrigleyville West for its many features that mimic Wrigley Field in Chicago. The stadium has one of the best food scenes in the league, too, from Chicago-style hotdogs, pizza and Italian beef sandwiches to local food trucks parked just beyond right centerfield serving lobster rolls, barbecue and Southwestern cuisine.

Sloan Park is part of the Riverview Park complex, which includes an outdoor shopping center and an $8 million city park featuring walking paths, a lake, a splash pad and multiple playground areas with a 50-foot-tall rope climbing tower and a 75-foot-long zip line. The full-service Sheraton Mesa Hotel at Wrigleyville West is across the street, and one mile away is Brass Tap, a craft beer bar and a pickup spot for Arizona Brewery Tours, a small bus tour of three of the Phoenix area’s 44 craft breweries. Many of the ballparks offer local craft beers, and some of the breweries offer seasonal baseball brews like “Magic in the Ivy,” “Cubs Way Kolsh” and “In the Park.”

If you don’t make it out for spring training, you can see some of the game’s elite prospects during the Arizona Fall League played in October and November at six Cactus League stadiums. Each MLB team sends six of its top prospects to play in the league with players commingled on six Arizona Fall League teams. Through the past 25 years of the league, nearly 60 percent of the players have gone on to make a major league roster, with 247 going on to be named All-Stars.

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 7:20 PM with the headline "Catch the Royals, Cubs in the desert for spring training."