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Spring Training Photo Gallery

Casey Stengel address players in spring, 1950

Angels warming up at Polo Grounds in Palm Springs, 1961

Bob Feller with child at Olive Memorial Stadium, 1949

Pirates manager Harry The Hat Walker (C, #3), at Spring training camp. (Photo by Bob Peterson/Getty Images)

Spring training at Fort Lauderdale Stadium

Cardinal players at Hot Springs Arkansas, February 16, 1934

Six Cub pitchers on Catalina Island, 1941

Babe Phelps and Gabby Hartnett at spring training

Babe Ruth, Miller Huggins, Lou Gehrig at St. Petersburg, Florida, 1929

Modern Spring Training facility

Giants walk to practice in Marlin, Texas

Cub players Jimmie Wilson and Dizzy Dean arrive on Catalina Island

Dodgers at spring training, Dolf Camilli, Billy Herman, PeeWee Reese)

Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson, Spring Training, 1950

Lou Gehrig at spring training

Joe McCarthy at spring training at Asbury Park

Carl Hubbell, Spring Training February 20, 1937

Jackie Robinson at spring training in Cuba

Babe Ruth, Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert, pitcher Bob Shawkey, and Lou Gehrig., Spring training, 1925

Giants players at spring training, 1937

Cubs at Spring training

Babe Ruth hitting fungos, 1932

Hank Majeski with Marilyn Monroe at Spring Training, 1951

Cubs at Catalina Island

SPring Training at Fort Lauderdale Stadium

1932 World champion Yankees, spring, 1932

Browns players at Spring Training

New York Giants, including Sam Leslie Jimmy Ripple, JoJo White and Mel Ott at spring training in Cuba

Red Sox in Hot Springs

Mickey Mantle at Spring training

Spring Training Is Upon Us!

Let’s Play Ball!

If this photo above won’t take your mind off winter and put you in the mood for baseball, nothing will!

The snow is deep in Chicago. The air is cold. The Super Bowl is over. And now the players have all packed their bags and headed south for warmer climes! That wonderful phrase we all love to hear, “Pitchers and Catchers Report,” is now a reality. Spring games start this week.

With spring camps open, it’s time to repost one of my favorite pics (see featured photo above): It’s the Cubbies and Orioles at spring training in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona. That’s Camelback Mountain in the background. Check out the photographers right on the field. And how about those beautiful “azure skies,” as Harry Caray used to say. All of a sudden the winter doesn’t seem so bad…so what if we just got a foot of snow in Chicago this week…Spring training is here!

(Excuse me while I go start up my snow blower and clear away last night’s snow fall. I’ll be right back…)

OK…I’m back! I’m starting to warm up just looking at this pic…It’s therapeutic!

Thanks to Karl Isenberger who did a lot of research on this great photo a couple years ago when I first posted it. Analyzing the Cubs uniforms and using the 1956 Orioles Media Guide as a reference, Karl determined that this was probably the very first game played at old Scottsdale Stadium on March 10, 1956, between the visiting Cubs and home team Orioles. The Cubs won the game 3-2 on a home run by Ernie Banks.

Karl also mentioned that “five photographers on the field in a spring training game would be unusual, so there’s also a very good chance this is a photo from the top of the first inning and that’s the very first batter in the new stadium and the five photographers are trying to record the historic event.” I concur.

**Don Zimmer, Felix Mantilla, Charlie Neal, Gil Hodges, Casey Stengel**

We came up with some identifications for the players in the photo. I initially thought the tall blonde pitcher on the left in the Cubs’ bullpen was 6’4″ Bob Anderon who I well remember from my early days as a Cub fan. I remember Bob Anderson as being a huge blond guy. But thanks to James Montemurro for pointing out that Anderson did not wear glasses (something I didn’t pick up in the photo), and is more likely 6’4″ Jim Brosnan.

The base runner is probably Don Hoak, the Cubs’ leadoff man for most of the year. The left-handed first baseman is probably African-American Bob Boyd of the Orioles. The first base coach is slightly visible behind one of the photographers. That’s probably Ray Blades.

Both the Cubs and the Orioles had forgettable seasons in 1956. The Cubs under Stan Hack went 60-94, finishing dead last in the eight-team National League. The Orioles, managed by Paul Richards, and three years removed from being the St. Louis Browns, went 69-85 and ended up slightly better with a sixth-place finish.

What’s the temperature in Arizona right now, anyway?? The good news is that next week I’ll be on my way to Phoenix to visit the grandkids…and to take in a Spring game or two at Sloan Park. Can’t wait!

Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: All from Google search.

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