3/3 Lou on Cubs, Mesa

The Cubs kickoff Cactus League play on Thursday, playing host to the Athletics at HoHoKam Park. This is the 32nd consecutive season in Mesa. Do the Cubs need a new spring facility? Lou Piniella said if they could build one complex, the team wouldn’t have to make the move from Fitch Park to HoHoKam, which it did Tuesday. There also is limited workspace at HoHoKam. The back field is not full size and there are three batting cages. HoHoKam seats 13,100; the Cubs would like a bigger stadium.

“I remember the 10 years with Seattle [in Peoria, Ariz.], we had wonderful fields,” Piniella said. “We had four Major League fields, two other Minor League fields. We had six fields we could do all our work in. Here, it’s limited.”

Piniella did say the Cubs’ current spring facilities are not the reason they haven’t won a World Championship. If the team can’t get a new set-up, they could still move to Florida.

“It would be hard for me to imagine baseball here without the Cubs being a mainstay,” Piniella said.

– Carrie Muskat