By the numbers...

Always a good crowd on hand when the Cubs come to Surprise...

Hard to believe that its the last week of Spring Training down here in Arizona. Just in time for the beautiful weather - yesterday's night game between the Cubs and Royals at Surprise Stadium saw temps in the perfect mid-70's - the 15 Cactus League teams are wrapping up their regular season rosters and getting ready to head home for their official opening days. Colorado weather, being problematic in a good year, has this year packed quite the Winter wallop so who knows what the Rockies opener will feature. There have been years when its nice but also years when Opening Day is snowed or rained out. The bookmakers in Vegas this year would tell you not to bet against the snow.

Make no mistake, Cactus League Spring Training is big business. Here's a quick by-the-numbers rundown of some of the economic impact:

- Visitors spend an estimated $315.7 million during Spring Training
- $122.6 million frequenting local bars and restaurants
- $34.7 million on souvenirs and gifts. That's a lot of Baseball caps and t-shirts!
- $22.3 million on groceries. Hey, you can't eat out all the time!

Any way you cut it it's a big slice of revenue for local communities. More than 6,000 jobs are created to serve the 1.8 million visitors to Spring Training during the six or so weeks in late February through March. Phoenix bills itself as a Baseball Paradise and for those six short weeks it truly is. Last night's attendance at Surprise was close to 10,000 but the nice thing is that many games see numbers half that so it allows a very relaxed and roomy uncrowded feel to the stadium on most days. The real draw for me isn't so much economic (what I make dollar-wise basically covers the cost of my trip) as it is a wonderful chance to escape the midwinter blues, watch some baseball, and get in some early season outdoor time hiking and biking. As I write this one of the local cycling groups has just rolled up to the White Tank Library for a potty break. About twenty deep they're all in shirtsleeves and shorts and its not even 9 a.m. Expected high today of 81 degrees.

A GREAT crew enjoying a well-earned lunch at Chiles

Most of the crew I'm working with are what are known as workampers (yes, that's how they spell it) who live fulltime in their RV's traveling the country working gigs wherever they go. There's even a dedicated site listing workamping jobs which is where I found the Spring Training opportunity 3 years ago. They seem to really enjoy their itinerant lifestyle but candidly they work pretty damn hard in what's supposed to be their Golden Years. Kudos to them but I don't think the fulltime RV lifestyle is for me.

So there you have it, Spring Training by the numbers. But to heck with the numbers. At the end of the day Spring Training is all about having fun:

-The games don't count so people are nice and could care less who wins or loses
-The beer is cold and the weather is warm
-The sun shines and the snow doesn't fall
-The 200 plus volunteer Sundancers at Surprise Stadium don't actually dance (trust me on this one - that's a good thing)
-And if you're lucky, you'll snag an official foul game ball which you could have bought at the Pro Shop for just $35.99... Plus tax.

Even in the Arizona desert you can't escape us Coloradoans!