Arizona

• Capital: Phoenix, AZ
• Largest City: Phoenix, AZ
• Area: 113,998 sq mi
  • Rank: 6
• Population (2010): 6,392,017
  • Rank: 16
• Admission to Union: February 14, 1912
• Time Zone: Mountain

Overview

"The Arizona Historical Society's museum at Papago Park has a great new exhibit on the history of baseball in Arizona and the formation of the Cactus League. It shows how baseball came to Arizona in 1874 and that by the late 19th century, it was popular in frontier outposts like Fort Huachuca, near the Mexican border." - from an article in the March 4, 2011 Orange County Register

As of 2010, appproximately 90 major leaguers have been born in Arizona. The first was an individual with a picturesque name - Flame Delhi. The only manager, through 2010, born in Arizona was Solly Hemus. The player who appeared in the most games has been Billy Hatcher (1,233 games, beating out Ron Hassey at 1,192).

The pitcher with the most wins has been John Denny.

Of course, no discussion about Arizona would be complete without mentioning spring training. Arizona has become increasingly popular over the decades as a place for major league teams to go for spring training and today fully half of major league teams play their pre-season games in the Cactus League.

1958 marked the year when the Pacific Coast League first put a team in Arizona. The Phoenix Giants won the pennant in their very first year.

In 1998 major league baseball placed a team in Arizona for the regular season, the Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-Backs brought the World Series championship to Arizona in 2001.

The first player who died in Arizona was Jiggs Parrott.

Further Reading

• John Darrin Tenney: Baseball in Territorial Arizona: A History, 1863-1912, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2016. ISBN 978-0-7864-9610-5
• Charlie Vascellaro: "Arizona an early outpost of integration in MLB: Cactus League Hall of Fame inducts four pioneering African-American players", mlb.com February 22, 2017. [1]