Results tagged ‘ Mesa ’
2/14 New spring digs
On Wednesday, Dale Sveum and some of the other Cubs coaches and staff toured the Spring Training construction site, located in west Mesa. It’s scheduled to open in 2014.
“It’s going to be one heck of a place,” Sveum said Thursday. “The designs and the pictures we saw and the models we saw, it’s going to be one special place. The weight room alone will be 9,000 square feet. The stadium looks really, really neat. It’ll be really fun to move in there next year.”
Will it make a difference in the Cubs’ record?
“It’s not going to make you win, it shouldn’t,” Sveum said.
But what it could do is help lure free agents to the Cubs who like the new set-up. Sveum helped with some of the planning.
“We basically did most of the cosmetic stuff that will go into the clubhouse,” he said. “The designs were what they were and [they asked] what do we want here? Where do we want the emblem? Where do we want TVs? What kind of TVs? How big? All the little things that go into a clubhouse that a lot of clubhouses have now, like iPod [docking stations].”
Sveum isn’t worried that the players will be spoiled by such perks.
“No, everybody else has it,” he said. “All the other clubhouses and new stadiums are all very, very nice. We’re just trying to keep up with the Joneses.”
– Carrie Muskat
11/30 Cubs spring schedule
The Cubs will open 2013 Spring Training on Feb. 23 against the Angels in Tempe, and play 17 home games at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, Ariz., plus two exhibition games in Las Vegas. The Cubs’ home opener, in what was expected to be their last season at HoHoKam, will be Feb. 24 against the Giants. Chicago is building a new Spring Training complex in west Mesa, which was scheduled to be ready for 2014 Spring Training. The 2013 schedule includes a trip to Las Vegas for a two-game series, March 16-17, against the Rangers. The Cubs also will play a home night game at HoHoKam Park on March 26 against the Reds. Individual Spring Training game tickets will go on sale Jan. 4 at 10 a.m. CT on Cubs.com or by calling 1-800-905-3315. The ticket box office at HoHoKam Park will open for the sale of individual game tickets beginning Jan. 15 at 9 a.m. MT.
Season tickets at HoHoKam Park go on sale Jan. 3 at 9 a.m. MT. Group tickets will be available starting Jan. 4 at 9 a.m. MT at the HoHoKam box office or by calling (480) 964-4467.
2013 Cubs Spring Training schedule
DATE/OPPONENT/SITE
Feb. 23 vs. Angels at Tempe
Feb. 24 vs. Giants in Mesa
Feb. 25 vs. Dodgers at Glendale
Feb. 26 vs. Rockies in Mesa
Feb. 27 vs. Dodgers in Mesa
Feb. 28 vs. Athletics in Mesa
March 1 vs. Diamondbacks in Mesa
March 2 vs. Giants at Scottsdale
March 3 (ss) vs. Brewers in Mesa; vs. Angels at Tempe
March 4 vs. Indians in Mesa
March 5 vs Rockies at Scottsdale
March 6 vs. Rangers at Surprise
March 7 vs. White Sox in Mesa
March 8 vs. Reds at Goodyear
March 9 vs. Indians in Mesa
March 10 vs. Padres in Mesa
March 11 vs. Diamondbacks at Scottsdale
March 12 off day
March 13 vs. Rockies in Mesa
March 14 vs. Dodgers at Glendale
March 15 vs. White Sox in Glendale
March 16 (ss) vs. Royals in Mesa; vs. Rangers at Las Vegas
March 17 (ss) vs. Athletics at Phoenix; vs. Rangers at Las Vegas
March 18 vs. Padres at Peoria
March 19 vs. Rangers in Mesa
March 20 Off day
March 21 vs. Mariners at Peoria
March 22 vs. Brewers at Maryvale
March 23 vs. Angels in Mesa
March 24 vs. Indians at Goodyear
March 25 vs. Giants in Mesa
March 26 vs. Reds in Mesa
March 27 vs. Royals at Surprise
March 28 vs. Mariners in Mesa
11/2 ASU, Cubs end talks
Talks between Arizona State and the Cubs over the university’s baseball team using the MLB team’s new Spring Training stadium in Mesa, Ariz., apparently have ended. Thomas Lenneberg, assistant media relations director for ASU’s baseball team, told the East Valley Tribune on Thursday that talks are “pretty much over.”
Julian Green, vice president of communications and community affairs for the Cubs, told the newspaper the team was surprised ASU had ended the discussion. Apparently, the university wanted to use the baseball facility for events other than baseball, something the Cubs did not want to have happen. Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said Thursday he told Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts and ASU president Michael Crow that he “no longer would mediate” the talks, according to the Tribune.
A statement on ASU’s website says “the new Cubs management changed the original deal points and added new issues to the negotiation, the new terms became far too costly for the university, imposed too many restrictions on ASU’s use of the facility and exposed the university to too great a level of financial liability for the entire complex.”
ASU was reportedly asked to pay $2 million for its own locker room and a practice field. Green said the Sun Devils would receive nearly $1.1 million every year plus play in a rent-free stadium.
“When you factor the people of Mesa are paying for a $100 million stadium, that’s a small amount to pay when you don’t have to build your own stadium and stand to triple your revenues,” Green said.
Construction is underway for the Cubs new Spring Training facility located along Dobson Road near Loop 202 in west Mesa.
– Carrie Muskat
7/17 New Spring Training site underway
In case you missed it, Cubs owners Tom and Laura Ricketts joined Mesa, Ariz., city and community leaders at a groundbreaking ceremony July 11 for the team’s new Spring Training facility. The new stadium will hold 15,000 people, and the facility was expected to be completed by Spring Training 2014. The Cubs are taking over land which had been occupied by the Riverview Golf Course in west Mesa.
– Carrie Muskat
2/6 Back to work
I apologize for the lull in postings. I went on what was supposed to be a baseball-free vacation, but the movie on the flight was “Moneyball.” The concierge at our hotel was drafted by the Yankees and knew Geovany Soto. Heard a lot of discussion about the power of the Dominican Republic team in the Caribbean World Series. On the flight home, the attendant announced they didn’t have the movie “Dolphin Tale” so we watched “Moneyball” again. What is important is that Cubs pitchers and catchers report to Mesa, Ariz., in 12 days. See everyone soon at Fitch Park.
– Carrie Muskat
1/21 Cubs spring broadcast schedule
1/4 Spring report dates for Cubs
11/28 A’s consider Mesa as Spring Training site
When the Cubs leave their current Spring Training facility in Mesa, Ariz., the Athletics could move in. The A’s have entered exclusive negotiations with the city of Mesa that could result in a move from Phoenix. The Cubs are relocating to a new site in Mesa, which was expected to be ready for Spring Training 2014. The A’s would move their year-round Minor League operations from Phoenix’s Papago Sports Complex to Mesa’s Fitch Park. The exclusive negotiation period lasts through May 15. Oakland’s current agreement with the city of Phoenix expires after the 2014 season.
– Carrie Muskat
10/23 Mesa’s Robert Brinton dead at 60
Robert Brinton, a key force in keeping the Cubs in Arizona, died unexpectedly on Friday. A past Cactus League Association president, Brinton was not feeling well in his office at the Mesa Convention and Visitors Bureau. Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said when Brinton failed to return from the restroom, another employee found him slumped over. He was 60.
“I was just absolutely stunned,” Smith told the Arizona Republic. “I lost a friend, a co-worker, a giant.”
Brinton and Smith partnered to save the Cubs from a potential move to Naples, Fla. The two men campaigned together for approval of a Mesa ballot measure that approved financing for a new Cubs Spring Training complex at the present site of Riverview Golf Course, near the interchange of Loops 101 and 202 in west Mesa.
“Everything he did was for the love of his community and people,” Smith said. “He gave selflessly because he believed in it. He was that kind of person.”
Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement that Brinton helped persuade him to keep the Cubs in Arizona after he bought the team in 2009.
“Robert was as passionate a Cubs fan as there ever was,” Ricketts said in a statement. “His love for baseball helped fuel the success of the Cactus League through more than five decades. His leadership this past year is a big part of the reason our team is staying in Mesa, and his legacy to future generations will be evident each spring as the Cubs take the field. He was a true friend and we will miss him dearly.”
Former Arizona Diamondbacks GM Joe Garagiola Jr. said Brinton’s respectful manner and credibility helped persuade the Cubs to stay in Mesa in 1989, when the league had eight teams and was endangered. He said the Cubs were listening to Florida politicians, who were hoping to lure the remaining teams to their state.
“The debt that the Cactus League owes Robert Brinton is immeasurable,” Garagiola said. “Everyone who knew him has a hole in their heart today.”
Brinton served as president of the Cactus League Association for two years, but he was a board member for 20 years. He also was executive director of the Mesa Convention and Visitors Bureau and the past president of the Mesa HoHoKams, a civic group that performs many functions at Hohokam Stadium during games.
Under Brinton’s leadership and through his tireless efforts, “the Cactus League exploded into a 15-team league that rivals the Super Bowl in economic importance,” said Dave Dunne, the league’s treasurer and manager of Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the spring home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies. The Cactus League drew more than 1.5 million fans this year and had an estimated economic impact of $360 million.
Dunne said Brinton was “this generation’s Dwight Patterson,” the hotelier who helped found the Cactus League by luring the Cubs to Mesa in 1952.
“Heaven’s baseball team just added another player,” said Mark Gallo, current HoHoKam stadium manager. “I loved the man.”
Brinton is survived by his wife, Nannette, and seven adult children. Services are pending.
– Carrie Muskat
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