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.

Hats Off to Boston, but Not Happy

Great comeback by Boston. You have to tip your hats to the Red Sox. They played hard and their line-up showed up from top to bottom the last three games. They showed what Cleveland seemed to lose all of the sudden after game 3: Heart! May you please roll over Colorado in the series and bring the World Series back to the AL.

As far as having the same attitude that Philly, Chicago or Arizona fans had when they lost, there is no chance. I am not satisfied that the Indians made it this far. I will not say that they gave it their all. I will not say they weren't supposed to make it this far anyway. I'm ticked off, sickened to my stomach and not one bit happy with a season that ends this way.

There is no excuse for being up 3-1 in a series and losing. There is no excuse for being up 3-1 in a series and getting crushed three games in a row. There is no excuse for having the look of quitters, while getting laughed at by an entire city that just knew they had it won heading in game 6, still down 3-2 in a series.

There was no fight in this team. They completely rolled over and let the Red Sox Nation plow over them. And it all starts with the Tribe's two Cy Young hopefuls. I don't know if Sabathia & Carmona were simply afraid to pitch to Boston's line-up or if they just think they are that good and that guys will swing at their pitches off the plate. It may have worked during the regular season, but come playoff time, you have to throw strikes and these two completely dropped the ball for their team.

I'm not going to rah-rah this team and say it was a good year, because it wasn't. There were good moments during the season and during the playoffs, but the way this team folded does not leave me looking forward to next year. This team has a lot of holes that need filled, especially the huge, gaping one that seems to be right about the sweet spot of their number three hitter's bat; Pronk. They need a closer. A real closer and if moving a middle man to closer is the solution, then they need more help in middle relief. They need a shortstop that can move more than 2 or 3 feet to his left or right to make a play. They need more power from the 3B position. After a collapse like this, you can go on all day with the problems that this team has.

Am I being too hard on the Indians. I don't think so, as the Red Sox will be even better next year with the young talent they have. The Blue Jays will be better, the White Sox will insist on turning it around and most importantly, the Tigers will be back with the best rotation in baseball again and have every Indians game circled on their schedule.

Cleveland should be headed to the Jacob's Field to be playing games 1 & 2 before a weekend in Denver right now. Instead, the Indians and Indians' fans are left with a full off-season of questions and continual frustration. And I don't blame the Curse of Rocky Colavito!

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!