the Arizona Fall League
“Oh, give me a home where the Desert Dogs roam,
where the Rafters and Scorpions play.
Where often is heard each encouraging word,
but a beer is $6.50 all day…”
PHOENIX—Ah, November in Arizona. Temperatures are a “crisp” 80something degrees.
Must be time for baseball.
The Arizona Fall League is six minor–league “teams” in two divisions. Major–league clubs send young prospects to these teams for seasoning. Each AFL team has players from several big–league clubs on its roster. AFL alumni include Mark Mulder, Brad Lidge, Eric Chavez, Morgan Ensberg and Albert Pujols.
Before they were Athletics, Cardinals or Angels of the Diaspora, they were Phoenix Desert Dogs, Scottsdale Scorpions, Grand Canyon Rafters and Mesa Solarsox.
Peoria actually has two teams, the Saguaros (a variety of cactus) and the Javelinas (a desert pig). Players wear their big–league uniforms, but the caps are AFL, giving the games the look of a low–budget All–Star game.
A weekday AFL game may draw 500 fans in spring–training stadiums built for 5,000. Tickets are $6, which means your beer costs more than your seat. Game–day rosters are handwritten, Xeroxed and sold for a buck.
You can hear exchanges between the catcher and the home–plate umpire. The public–address announcer sounds as if he’s sitting next to you.
The fans watch these games with the critical eye of a big–league scout:
“Two men on base, nobody out…and he swings at the first pitch? Are you kidding me?!”
No commercials, stupid mascots or scoreboard antics. Just pure, unadulterated baseball.
The future of America’s pastime is being forged in the Arizona desert — and at prices that wouldn’t get you into a major–league parking lot, you get to watch.