Spring Training Nostalgia

[juliogotay]

It wasn't always the way it is now with teams training together in Arizona and Florida. When I was on Catalina Island I learned the Cubs used to train there because Wrigley owned the island off the coast of Southern California. Old-timers here, including me, will remember Apache Junction. https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/meet-me-in-waxahachie-the-offbeat-unlikely-and-forgotten-cities-of-spring-training/

[MikeyBoy]

The Catalina fucking Cubs.

[BlownRanger]

There was a good documentary on the MLB Channel about Hot Springs, Arkansas serving as a spring training site.  The main recreational outlets were the horse racing track and the brothels.  Not surprisingly, Babe Ruth loved training there.

[juliogotay]

There was a good documentary on the MLB Channel about Hot Springs, Arkansas serving as a spring training site.  The main recreational outlets were the horse racing track and the brothels.  Not surprisingly, Babe Ruth loved training there.

Hot Springs has an interesting history....including mob connections back in the Capone days.

[Craig]

There was a good documentary on the MLB Channel about Hot Springs, Arkansas serving as a spring training site.  The main recreational outlets were the horse racing track and the brothels.  Not surprisingly, Babe Ruth loved training there.

I live in Hot Springs and there is still lots of interest and promotion about the old spring training days here. There's a big promotion coming up later in the month that looks interesting. We have historical markers all over town about the various players and teams. They really play up the famous 573-foot homer by Babe Ruth in 1918 that landed in an alligator farm (which is still operating). The original location of home plate is outlined in a Weyerhauser parking lot.

[Craig]

Hot Springs has an interesting history....including mob connections back in the Capone days.

There is so much cool history here. The main downtown street has all the old respectable businesses (big hotels and bathhouses) on one side, and all the brothels, bars, and casinos on the other. There is a huge tunnel that runs the length of Central Avenue (the main drag), and the mobsters used the tunnel to cross back and forth. There's even a Model T still down there, and a bowling alley with scores still chalked on the wall. There was so much corruption back then that the police department and sheriff's department had a huge shootout in the middle of the street over who got to provide mob protection.

[juliogotay]

There is so much cool history here. The main downtown street has all the old respectable businesses (big hotels and bathhouses) on one side, and all the brothels, bars, and casinos on the other. There is a huge tunnel that runs the length of Central Avenue (the main drag), and the mobsters used the tunnel to cross back and forth. There's even a Model T still down there, and a bowling alley with scores still chalked on the wall. There was so much corruption back then that the police department and sheriff's department had a huge shootout in the middle of the street over who got to provide mob protection.

I've always enjoyed Hot Springs. May be out there this fall if we drive the Talimena as hoped. Is The Hamilton House still open? I think there was a restaurant there about thirty years ago.

[Craig]

Is The Hamilton House still open? I think there was a restaurant there about thirty years ago.

No, I think the restaurant closed in 2003 and then it was a bed and breakfast for a while. It's closed permanently now.

[jbm]

Yeah, baseball and Oaklawn would be quite the draw.

[Craig]

Yeah, baseball and Oaklawn would be quite the draw.

Oaklawn has always been a massive draw during racing season (January to April) but they've also added a giant full-blown casino, so it's a year-round thing now.

[toddthebod]

The Catalina fucking Cubs.

POTW

[HudsonHawk]

There is so much cool history here. The main downtown street has all the old respectable businesses (big hotels and bathhouses) on one side, and all the brothels, bars, and casinos on the other. There is a huge tunnel that runs the length of Central Avenue (the main drag), and the mobsters used the tunnel to cross back and forth. There's even a Model T still down there, and a bowling alley with scores still chalked on the wall. There was so much corruption back then that the police department and sheriff's department had a huge shootout in the middle of the street over who got to provide mob protection.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever...do they still have casinos and whorehouses?

[juliogotay]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever...do they still have casinos and whorehouses?

All covered in his second sentence.

[Craig]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever...do they still have casinos and whorehouses?

All the old whorehouses and casinos downtown have been turned into regular bars and art galleries. There's still a rundown 100-year-old "massage" place that everyone knows is really a whorehouse. Oaklawn has all the casino business now. In fact, they're trying to get their monopoly added to the state constitution.