Monday, October 12, 2009

Cactus League comes to play in MLB Playoffs

We admit, we may have spoke a little too soon regarding the Cactus League representation in the Major League baseball playoffs. Two Cactus League teams (the Dodgers and the Angels) have made it on to their respective Championship series. The Rockies have an outside chance of going on, but it would be a tall order to defeat the Phillies, who are the defending World Series champs.

Spring Training in Arizona next year will be home to at least two of the final four MLB teams in the Playoffs. This great news for the Valley, especially if the economy doesn't recover as quickly as we all would want.

However, we hope that the the success of the local teams does not overshadow our original premise of why the Cactus League (and Mesa) needs to keep the Cubs. The Cubs are still the rare team that have generate significant attendance no matter their record from the previous year. We may be lucky enough to have teams that went deep into the playoffs this time, but that is no guarantee for every year. For the same reason certain college teams always get a bowl game because their fans "travel well," the Cubs are the rare draw that raises attendance for the entire league.

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