When the Chicago Cubs signed papers in 1951, to make Mesa, Arizona, their new spring training home, the Tribune lauded one local amenity — a mineral bath — 9 miles away.
Fans complained when the White Sox arrived in Tucson 25 years ago for the team’s first preseason in Arizona that the ballpark — Hi Corbett Field where scenes from the 1989 movie “Major League” was filmed — was in one of the bleakest parts of town “where tank farms and body shops meet the high chaparral.”
Today, however, the fast-growing Phoenix area — where the Cubs and White Sox are among 15 teams that play in 10 stadiums as part of the Cactus League — offers numerous restaurants, outdoor activities and cultural institutions to help winter-weary travelers relax and thaw out in the Sonoran Desert.
