Grapefruit League No More by 2020

The city of Sarasota, Florida recently voted down a measure that would have brought much needed renovations to the home of the Cincinnati Reds Spring Training facility. With the outcome of this vote, look for the inevitable to happen, a Red move to always sunny Arizona and the Cactus League.

With 12 teams already located within 1.5 hours of each other in Arizona and the Dodgers and Indians on the way in the next couple years, baseball is seeing a major shift in spring baseball and Arizona is happy to accommodate.

Goodyear, Arizona could use a new team to partner with the Indians. A nice Ohio connection of the Tribe and Reds in the same park would be entertaining and convenient for fans. Surprise, Arizona has a facility that was built to accommodate three MLB teams. Casa Grand recently pushed hard for a team and with the growth of the outlining cities around Phoenix, it is not a stretch of the imagination to see every Major League team with an Arizona home by 2020. I could see Queen Creek, North Phoenix, Gilbert, West Mesa, North Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Avondale, Anthem, Chandler and many others easily being able to accommodate teams.

And how about Tucson? Just 1.5 hours from Phoenix and able to currently house 4 teams. The Tucson area could easily host another 6 teams with new growth.

And why not? Barring a freak of nature, it doesn't rain in Arizona and it's absolutely beautiful during March. This happens to be a great benefit to big league baseball teams in trying to get every single day of work-outs completed before the season begins. Florida is the rainy, hot and humid state, with numerous wash out games and days in the spring. Every day counts in spring training and one day of lost work certainly sets a team back.

Plus, you have the dreaded travel that the Grapefruit League teams have to contend with. A simple trip from Ft. Myers to Brevard County is a good 5 hours long. Big league players love 5 hour bus rides, don't they? In the Phoenix area, it's a hop, skip and a jump to the next park, with the longest trek being only 1.5 hours to Tucson.

The Grapefruit League does have some nice parks, so please don't get me wrong about the accommodations. Palm Beach and Clearwater have beautiful facilities. But these same parks could easily be built with new money in the desert.

If it's a matter of convenience and the convenience that not only players want, but that organizations want, the Cactus League just makes better sense. For the weather, expenses that would be saved and for the ease of finding every possible entertainment element in the world to do, Arizona almost seems like a no-brain er for teams.

There are some leases ending soon and talks are already in the works for more teams to head West, but it will take some time for my entire prediction to come true. A few staples in the Grapefruit League might fight the movement to the end. Clearwater and the Phillies are in a brand new park and I can already picture the Yankees as the last team sticking to it's Florida roots, vowing to never leave the Tampa area. Steinbrenner would probably fly his players to games out West before giving up on his Florida empire.

Blame it on the Bugs

The Indians called upon their 10th man tonight and boy did the 10th man show up. And he brought some friends. Thousands of them.

Night fell on Jacob's Field and the bugs I grew up swatting away as a child on a hot Ohio summer night came a calling.

The volume was off the TV from the 7th inning on, so I can only imagine what the TBS commentators had to say, but it was a crazy site to witness.

Like the Indians of the 90's, this Tribe team has no quit in them at all. Fausto Carmona will be a household name for a long time to come. And this young Indians team is only going to get better.

I was forced to turn the volume off the TV in the 6th inning after finally realizing that the Yankees were not concerned at all over getting smacked to the ground last night. They had Andy Pettite on the mound. The savior, the only picture they would want in this situation, the one that would turn things around for the team and the city of New York.

Man do I dislike sports commentators. There is a need for play-by-play, but please do away with ridiculous commentators. I think they go into games already having decided what they would talk about, inning after inning after inning. There are a couple good ones out there, but as a whole, I would be fine with just play-by-play.

Here's to a one and done game in New York on Sunday.

A Perfect MLB World Series Path

Here is how the post-season will shake out starting today with the Rockies-Phillies game. The only logic involved in this is that the Indians will win their first World Series title since 1948. Best record in baseball and best 1-2 punch on the mound.

Look for the Rockies to be playing the D-backs in the NL finals. Why will the Rockies top the Phillies? Because when the Tribe reaches the World Series, it would be much more convenient to see them play in Denver than in Philly. But, here's hoping that scenario doesn't shake out, as I have to root for my current hometown and NL team, the D-backs. Making only a 30-minute drive to watch the Tribe play and possibly wrap things up in the Series on the road would be a very sweet thing.

We already know the Indians are taking it all, but how are they getting there? Through LA of course. A nice little $98 one-hour flight is definitely in the cards for next weekend. The Yankees will go down and the Red Sox do pose an area of concern, but it's only right that on the road to a title, that the road runs conveniently close or through the Phoenix area.

So there you have it...Indians over Yankees. Angels over Sox. Tribe over Yankees. Colorado over Philly. D-backs top the Cubs and then roll over the Rockies. All to get to the 2007 World Champion Cleveland Indians.

How sweet it will be. Go Tribe!