And I cannot help but recall the arrival in Scottsdale each spring of longtime National League President Chub Feeney. And it still is. In fact, I'd say that everything about Arizona's spring training is better than Florida's. The weather is, of course, drier and infinitely less enervating. The daily high temperature in Phoenix averages a salubrious 74.5 degrees during March.
Rain is rare in the desert, but a constant bother in Florida.
Florida's 20 are scattered pell-mell over the steamy peninsula. Young A's fans in Arizona reach out for an autograph. And with its teams sprawled all over the landscape, Florida sorely lacks such centralized baseball hangouts as the Pink Pony and Don and Charlie's, Scottsdale steak houses where fans, writers, managers, and executives of different teams and even an occasional ballplayer gather to chew over the day's events. Don and Charlie's is a tough ticket in the spring, so it's wise to make reservations in advance. It's a spacious place, but it's generally packed to the gunnels at night.