Hitting it out: 3 Cactus League parks named to best spring-training sites list
Mar 27, 2014, 8:03 AM | Updated: 8:03 am
PHOENIX — The voters have spoken — Goodyear Ballpark was chosen second-best spring training facility in baseball and No. 1 in the Cactus League in a reader’s choice travel poll.
Scottsdale’s Salt River Fields, shared by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies, and Mesa’s Cubs Park also cracked the top 10 list engineered by USA Today.
Salt River Fields was No. 3, while Cubs Park, which opened Feb. 27, was eighth.
The Goodyear park is home to the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians.
What beat Goodyear for overall No. 1? Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Fla., where the Tampa Bay Rays train.
“They told us we ran a great campaign,” said Debbie Diveney, business-operations supervisor of Goodyear Ballpark in a statement.
“We tried to have fun with it, we even had fans voting live with us at the games … It was a valiant effort on our part. Thanks to all the fans who participated. Wait ‘til next year,” she said.