Spring Training: Cheap tickets ... except for the Dodgers

For a die-hard baseball fan, there's nothing like catching a game at a small ballpark in Arizona in March.

Spring Training baseball offers the best of the Big Leagues, plus you get perfect weather, small, intimate ballparks, and the chance to see favorite players and young up-and-comers up close.

And, it's affordable.

Unless you want to see the Dodgers, that is.

For most of the teams that hold camp in Arizona, you can snag a ticket behind home plate for as low as $17, although $23 is more typical.  If you don't mind sitting on the lawn in the outfield, you can watch a game live and have a picnic for $5 or $6.

But for the Dodgers, be prepared to pay $42 to $47 -- PLUS Ticketmaster's "convenient" extra fees -- for the top tickets.  And the "cheap" seats on the lawn behind the outfield wall?  $10-12.

Here's a comparison of ticket prices behind home plate for the Cactus League's clubs:

• Colorado     $17
• Arizona     $18
• Milwaukee     $21
• Oakland     $21
• Cleveland/Cincinnati     $23
• Seattle/San Diego     $23
• Texas/Kansas City     $23
• San Francisco     $24-30
• Chicago Cubs     $28-30
• Angels     $29
• Dodgers/White Sox     $42-47

So who's out of line?  Yup -- the Dodgers, and the other team they share the Camelback Ranch facility with, the Chicago White Sox.

But just because you play in a new ballpark (Camelback opened for business last spring), does that mean you have the green light to charge double what many other teams charge?

Sure, it can be argued that Dodgers Cactus League tickets are affordable -- but that's only by comparison to the prices they charge at Dodger Stadium.

Bob Feller: A Legend Throws Out the First Pitch

Hall of Famer Bob Feller, age 91, throws out the first pitch at today's Cleveland Indians/Cincinnati Reds game in Goodyear, Arizona.

Spring Training: Play Ball!

March has arrived, which means one thing: Spring Training!

Fifteen clubs flock to Arizona for this time-honored annual event, and with them, come baseball fans from across the country.

Restaurants, hotels, car rental companies and other merchants cheer the arrival of the teams, their fans, and visiting journalists. If you're in the service industry in Arizona, March is like Christmas.

This year, the Cactus League welcomes a new arrival - the Cincinnati Reds.

Until now, the Reds had been a member of the Grapefruit League, setting up camp in Florida each year.

But now they're sharing the new complex in Goodyear with their cross-state rival, the Cleveland Indians.

The Indians were one of the original clubs to begin play in Arizona. In 1946, they, along with the New York Giants, were the first teams to move west.

Cleveland began play that year in Tucson at Hi Corbett Field. In 1993, they departed for the Grapefruit League, but last year returned to Arizona, to the then brand-new Goodyear Ballpark.

With the arrival of the Reds, the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues are now evenly split - 15 teams a piece.