IBC

I'm headed out to spring training in Arizona March 7-13. I'm going to be in downtown Phoenix for a couple days but anyone have suggestions for the best area to stay for some of the stadiums further out? Any other general tips? Anyone else going to be out there by chance?

Guaranteed Brennan will be out there...he always makes a trip. Odds of him being on the site to see this before then? I say 35%

I'll miss you by a few days.

My two universal recommendations are a) the minor league games that start around 1:00 are more fun than the big league games with 2-4 concurrent games just feet from each other, so I try to go to big league games at night, and b) if you do go to a 1:00 game and care about staying cool, you may want to sit toward the back of the lower section because it's the only shade in most of the parks.

Anything else that comes to mind for me depends on where you're interested in visiting. I've only been to Surprise, Maryvale, Peoria, Tempe, Goodyear and Camelback. Haven't been to Talking Stick, Scottsdale or Mesa, but they're all nice and cozy parks. It's much more convenient to walk to some of the practice field areas than others, particularly in the shared complexes, so definitely figure out the best places to park.

If you enjoy this sort of thing, hiking up Camelback Mountain is nice (and there are some easier ones if you're not as into the view).

How many people are going? If more than 2 Home Away is your friend, the times I went out with 4 or 5 people we got some great deals in Peoria/Surprise. Scottsdale is the area with the most character so recommend touristing around there, it’s also my favorite ballpark though Camelback is also great. All the ballparks are within about an hour of each other so you want to plant yourself in the middle and enjoy. If you want to do something totally different I can not recommend Tombstone (home of the OK Corral) more highly. Perfect balance of cheesy cowboy stuff and interesting history, it’s about 3 hours from Phoenix and a great day trip.