Where did the Arizona Diamondbacks train in 1948?
It was the spring of 1948, the second spring the Tribe trained in Tucson. Rapid Robert, who had enjoyed the agreeable weather of Fort Myers and Clearwater, Florida in previous years, reportedly said, “I don’t think it’s good for a pitcher out here (Arizona).”
Where did the idea of spring training come from?
The idea of training in Phoenix may originally have come from Jack Zeiler, one of Navin’s western scouts, who made most of the arrangements for the encampment of the Tigers in Phoenix. Zeiler was the first to promote Phoenix and Arizona as locations for spring training baseball.
When was the first spring training game in Arizona?
The eighteen years separating the first Arizona spring training game in 1929 and the games of 1947 brought profound changes to the country and to the game of baseball. Not the least of these was the inexorable erosion of racial barriers.
Who was the American League leader in wins after spring training?
After preseason training in Tucson in 1947, Feller proceeded to lead the American League in wins, games started, strikeouts, shutouts, and innings pitched with a whopping 299. The controversy persists and probably always will. Yet for most spring training fans, there’s no real argument.
It was the spring of 1948, the second spring the Tribe trained in Tucson. Rapid Robert, who had enjoyed the agreeable weather of Fort Myers and Clearwater, Florida in previous years, reportedly said, “I don’t think it’s good for a pitcher out here (Arizona).”
The idea of training in Phoenix may originally have come from Jack Zeiler, one of Navin’s western scouts, who made most of the arrangements for the encampment of the Tigers in Phoenix. Zeiler was the first to promote Phoenix and Arizona as locations for spring training baseball.
The eighteen years separating the first Arizona spring training game in 1929 and the games of 1947 brought profound changes to the country and to the game of baseball. Not the least of these was the inexorable erosion of racial barriers.
After preseason training in Tucson in 1947, Feller proceeded to lead the American League in wins, games started, strikeouts, shutouts, and innings pitched with a whopping 299. The controversy persists and probably always will. Yet for most spring training fans, there’s no real argument.
