Your Dream Place for Spring Training

Overall, I enjoy Spring Training. Still, there are parts about the whole event that I dislike. Aspects such as heightened speculation over insignificant bench roles, discussions about offseason workouts and people taking small samples too seriously are almost a rite of passage now. Something to be endured before baseball can begin again in earnest. I could do without those parts.

Those are mostly outweighed however, by the good bits. Baseball returning at least in spirit for one and despite the many fluff pieces, there is a growing amount of actual news to digest. Spring Training is also a chance to travel to usually warm destinations, see something resembling baseball for slightly cheaper than normal and have greater access to players and staff than you would have at a regular Major League game.

As for the games themselves, I have never been able to elicit any passion for exhibition or preseason games in any of the sports I’ve followed. Not that I think those who do are wrong to do so. I just cannot follow the same path and so wonder how or why they are able.

Aside from the games and the media, Spring Training is also a venue. I wonder though, since Arizona and Florida have teams all season long, have they lost any appeal as Spring Training destinations? Would it be more intriguing to travel to New Mexico perhaps, or maybe Las Vegas instead of the Phoenix area? Or Alabama instead of Florida? Places that do not see baseball in the regular season for example.

Obviously not all alternatives are as suitable as the current settings. Climate, infrastructure, tradition and a host of other factors give credence to keeping things in place, but there are other options both realistic and fanciful. If you had a choice, where would you like Spring Training to be held?