Follow your favorite team across the Valley
The sunshine, the cracking of bats and cheers from the crowd are all sounds of springtime in Arizona. Whether you’re a die-hard baseball fan or someone who simply enjoys a day in the sun, Tempe, Arizona, is a grand slam of a spring getaway that’s filled with Major League Baseball’s Spring Training games.
Each year, Cactus League Spring Training brings 15 Major League Baseball teams to 10 stadiums across the Greater Phoenix area (within an approximate 35-mile radius) for more than 200 games between late February and the end of March.
All the clichés apply when it comes to baseball in the spring in Arizona: it’s a time of hope, rebirth and renewal for players and fans. There’s always something new on the horizon come spring training, so it’s an unparalleled first look at a franchises fresh faces, veteran stars, and overall chemistry for the season ahead.
Experience all the fun and excitement that comes with spring training by making Tempe your home base. Centrally located, Tempe provides easy access to all the Cactus League fields, and visiting fans are able to catch multiple games on a single visit. Here’s everything you need to know for planning an upclose- and personal 3-game home stand.
Cactus League Teams and Stadiums
Tempe Diablo Stadium
Home of the Los Angeles Angels
2200 W. Alameda Drive, Tempe, AZ 85282 | Tickets
Originally opened in 1969 as the spring training home of the one-season wonder Seattle Pilots — the team spent two spring seasons in Tempe before becoming the Milwaukee Brewers just prior to Opening Day in 1970 — Tempe Diablo Stadium is now the longest continually operational ballpark in the Cactus League and an iconic local landmark. The Angels arrived in 1993 and are under contract with the city through 2035.
Arrive early if you’re seeking autographs. The Angels take pre-game batting practice on the field next to the parking lot on the west side of the stadium. The visiting team enters the ballpark from the other parking lot behind the outfield wall. Players from both teams will often sign autographs down the ends of both outfield lines before the games begin.
Hohokam Stadium
Home of the Oakland A’s
1235 N. Center St., Mesa, AZ 85201 | Tickets
Hohokam Stadium originally opened in 1997, and underwent major renovations in 2015 when the Oakland A’s replaced the Chicago Cubs as spring tenants. The A’s and Cubs have occupied Hohokam ballparks old and new since 1977.
Prior to the game, the A’s players are easily accessible at the Lew Wolff Training Complex at nearby Fitch Park where the team conducts pre-game workouts and is the year-round home of the A’s minor league and player development operations. However, the best place to get autographs is at the end of the right field line where the visiting team’s players board the team bus after the game. The A’s players exit the ballpark from the team’s clubhouse on the concourse behind the first base grandstand.
Salt River Fields at Talking Stick
Home of the Arizona Diamondbacks & Colorado Rockies
7555 N. Pima Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85258 | Tickets
Still the first and only MLB facility built on Native American Land, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick has been the shared spring training home and minor league operations headquarters of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies since 2011. Salt River Fields was subsequently named the best spring training ballpark of the decade, best Cactus League Ballpark and Top Stadium Experience of the Year (2014).
Both the Diamondbacks and Rockies conduct early morning practice sessions at Salt River Fields, which are also open to the public and a great place to gather autographs. Players and fans share the concrete walkways winding their way through the 12 practice fields, batting cages, and each team’s clubhouses that surround the main ballpark. The entire complex is masterfully sculpted into the desert landscape and doubles as a public park and educational botanical garden complete with labels identifying the varieties of cacti and flora.
Scottsdale Stadium
Home of the San Francisco Giants
7408 E. Osborn Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 | Tickets
The most recent series of renovations at Scottsdale Stadium includes an extension of the Charros Lodge premium party patio just behind the Giants’ bullpen in right field and a 10,000 square-foot new home team clubhouse and year-round event center.
The cozy confines of Scottsdale Stadium’s original footprint established in 1956 creates an intimate environment conducive to the old-fashioned practice of players signing autographs right next to their team’s dugouts for about a half-hour before the game begins. Giants fans might also find the players exiting the clubhouse by Gate B on the first base side after the game.
Sloan Park
Home of the Chicago Cubs
2330 W. Rio Salado Parkway, Mesa, AZ 85201 | Tickets
Sloan Park is the Chicago Cub’s Wrigleyville West, and truly feels like a home away from home away from home each spring. Surrounded by the Mesa Riverview retail and entertainment district and Riverview Park at the crossroads of Mesa and Tempe, Sloan Park is bordered by its expansive practice field facility and a pair of large paid parking lots. In addition, Mesa Riverview and Tempe Marketplace both offer free baseball parking and trolley rides to and from the park.
The path that connects the Cubs clubhouse and training complex to Sloan Park looks like the Academy Awards red carpet lined on both sides by adoring fans providing the ballpark’s best opportunities for autographs before and after the game.
Camelback Ranch
Home of the Los Angeles Dodgers & Chicago White Sox
10710 W. Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ 85037 | Tickets
The team’s departure from its longtime Dodgertown spring training facility in Vera Beach, Florida, to the Camelback Ranch facility in Glendale was almost as dramatic as the Dodgers’ franchise move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958. However, the Dodgers joined the Chicago White Sox in Glendale in 2009 and West Coast fans have been delighted ever since.
Peoria Sports Complex
Home of the San Diego Padres & Seattle Mariners
16101 N. 83rd Ave., Peoria, AZ 85382 | Tickets
The Cactus League’s westward expansion began with the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres moving into the Peoria Sports Complex as co-tenants in 1994. The Mariners have previously occupied Tempe Diablo Stadium since their inception as a Major League expansion team in 1977. The Padres historically held their spring camp in Yuma, AZ from 1969-1993.
American Family Fields of Phoenix
Home of the Milwaukee Brewers
3805 N. 53rd Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85031 | Tickets
The Milwaukee Brewers opened the Maryvale Baseball Park in 1997 and the facility received $60 million worth of improvements and renovations and was renamed American Family Fields of Phoenix, ensuring the team will remain in Maryvale for the next 25 years.
Surprise Stadium
Home of the Texas Rangers & Kansas City Royals
15960 N. Bullard Ave., Surprise, AZ 85374 | Tickets
The addition of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals to the Cactus League and the opening of Surprise Stadium sparked the continued expansion of the league and its westward migration in 2003. At the top of various lists of spring training ballpark rankings, Surprise Stadium has often been heralded as a perfect place to see a ballgame in the spring.
Goodyear Ballpark
Home of the Cleveland Guardians and Cincinnati Reds
1933 S. Ballpark Way, Goodyear, AZ 85338 | Tickets
Rounding out the Cactus League’s roster of 15 major league teams in 10 ballparks, the Cleveland Guardians and Cincinnati Reds share the Goodyear Ballpark at the far reaches of the West Valley.
