This spring, Tucson Electric Park and the Kino Sports Complex will be the host to a Major League Baseball team's training headquarters for the last time.
March 4 will be the first game of the last year of the Arizona Diamondbacks' spring training in Tucson when they host the Colorado Rockies at Tucson Electric Park, 2500 E. Ajo Way.
The Diamondbacks will play 16 games at the park during March. All games start at 1:05 p.m.Next season, the Diamondbacks and Rockies will move to a new spring training complex east of Scottsdale.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION: For a complete schedule and ticket information visit the Arizona Diamondback website at arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com |
The move comes two years after the Chicago White Sox ended their 11-year stint sharing the Kino Sports complex with the Diamondbacks. The White Sox moved to a new complex with the Los Angeles Dodgers in Glendale, Ariz. Jack Camper, president of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, said he can see why some Tucsonans are disheartened by the prospect of no more spring training. For more than 60 years, baseball teams and their fans enjoyed Tucson's weather. The departure of the Diamondbacks and Rockies will have an economic effect on Tucson as well.
Each team brings about $10 million a year to Tucson's economy, Camper said. When Tucson was hosting all three teams, the city could rely on about $30 million in tourism and other sources of revenue.
The revenue loss from the departure of spring training hurts local businesses, said Francisco Valdez, manager of Las Cazuelitas de Tucson, 2615 S. Sixth Ave.
Valdez said events like spring training are great for restaurants.
"Anything that brings people to Tucson and creates an atmosphere that brings people out with their families, their kids, really helps business," he said.
Camper said there is still hope for professional baseball in Tucson, as negotiations are taking place between Major League Baseball and professional teams in Japan to bring their stars to train in Tucson.
"It works out because their spring training starts right around the same time as ours," Camper said.
Ideally, he said, there will be two or three professional Japanese teams moving their spring training operations to Tucson as early as next season, and Tucson would see benefits almost immediately.
Seeing the top players from Japan take on American baseball stars would be exciting for many fans, Camper said, especially those from Japan, making spring training in Tucson a must-see for Japanese tourists and baseball fans alike.
While those negotiations are far from complete, Camper said he is still optimistic about the future of professional baseball in Tucson.
"The Japanese are rabid baseball fans," he said.
"I can see Japanese (tourists) landing in Vegas, driving to the Grand Canyon on their way to Tucson to watch their own teams play, then heading off to Los Angeles."
