A history of the Cactus League

MLB.com has a little something. Let's call it a primer before Spring Training starts.

Robert Brinton first sold the Cactus League program when he was 6 years old.

Fifty-eight years later, Brinton has bought into the program, too. As president of the Cactus League, he has watched the Arizona Spring Training league evolve into a baseball power that rivals its older East Coast counterpart, the Grapefruit League.

There will be 15 teams training in Florida's Grapefruit League when pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training on Feb. 18, and with the recent arrival of the Cincinnati Reds in Goodyear, Ariz., 15 teams will now train in Arizona.

"We were down to seven teams in the early '90s and my vision was to see if we can get 10 teams here," said Brinton, who lives in Mesa. "To end up with 15 teams shows the hard work of many people working together over the years. It's been more successful than we could have ever dreamed."

The leagues have come a long way. The Cactus League started in 1946 with the Cleveland Indians in Tucson and the New York Giants in Phoenix. The Grapefruit League started in 1908 with an exhibition game between the Reds and the St. Petersburg Saints. The Chicago Cubs were the first team to train in Florida when they arrived in 1913.

When the Cubs became the third team in the Cactus League in 1952, Brinton was a boy who wanted to be ballplayer when he grew up. On game days, he camped outside of Rendezvous Park in Mesa to sell four-page black and white programs for 25 cents.

Much more at the link.