I'm astonished at how trendy the Cactus League has become with non-baseball enthusiasts.
These days, if you ask friends - whether they follow the sport - to go to a spring training game, you're often answered with an emphatic, "Yes." Spring training has become a destination, a "must do," if you will, at least once or twice per season for almost everyone.
What gets me is if you ask those same people to go to a Diamondbacks' game during the regular season, you're often answered with a turned up nose, a lack of interest.
Never mind that the D-Backs are the home team, that they play 81 home games a year that actually mean something, that they play in a much nicer stadium than the spring training venues and that most D-Back tickets are just as cheap if not cheaper than spring training.
The fact that the Valley plays host to one of two spring training leagues in the country is a great thing, don't get me wrong. But spring training is what it is - a meaningless exhibition. The real baseball is played downtown. Take heed.
Reach the reporter at: christopher.drexel@asu.edu.
