Posted by Brian White - email
Tucson is making a pitch for a third team to keep spring training alive in the area.
The Old Pueblo currently has the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Now there's hope the Baltimore Orioles make southern Arizona their spring home.
Tucson Electric Park could be their spring training facility as early as next spring. But they're keeping their options open before getting our bases loaded.
"We're going to vigorously pursue a proposal to the Orioles, try to bring them here as soon as 2010 and to have them here long term," said Pima County Sports and Tourism chair Tom Tracy.
That proposal from the Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority to the Baltimore Orioles must have at least two things.
"Number one -- a first class facility in the near term, and we have that available for them at Tucson Electric Park," Tracy said. "And then number two -- a long term opportunity in a community, and that would include other teams to practice and play with them."
The authority wants to keep the Diamondbacks and Rockies but also says it's looking at other teams if they leave.
Authority chair Tom Tracy says the Orioles, who currently practice on a year to year basis in Fort Lauderdale also have proposals from Sarasota and Lee County, Florida. They would need to decide in the next two months what happens next spring.
"We don't have to push a lot of buttons. We'll have a lot of the buttons pushed for us by virtue of the calendar," Tracy said regarding the timeline of the decision.
The authority is also considering Japanese teams to train in Tucson during the spring, but if the Orioles decide to practice in Tucson, there won't be room for them.
