Don't be boneheaded, Rockies!

So due to the White Sox leaving Tucson Electric Park, the Rockies can now move from their Spring Training home, Hi-Corbett, and move to a soul-less stale park in Goodyear, AZ (which is a soul-less suburb located in soul-less Phoenix.) Here's an article telling about it.
If they moved, would that be a Greek Tragedy? Youbetcha!
Here's why: Hi-Corbett represents the beginning of spring-training in baseball in Tucson as it was the home to the Indians from 1945-92. Due to its age, Hi-Corbett represents one of the last few remaining places in baseball where present players can play where Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams played. Furthermore, Hi-Corbett represents the essence of Spring Training due to the movie, "Major League", having many of its scenes of Spring Training shot on site there at Hi-Corbett.

So why would the Rockies want to move from this historic location? It is more or less out-dated in that it is not a mini-stadium and doesn't have the amenities that other Spring Training fields do. This of course means nothing though to the people who are going to these Spring Training games (ie those of us who want to see the up-and-comers in major league settings, and also want to see 'how good the team is this year'). These true fans could care less about amenities.

Mrs. Mendoza and I have been to 3 other Spring Training facilities (Phoenix Municipal Stadium, home of A's; Surprise Stadium, home of Rangers; and Tucson Electric Park, ex-home of White Sox) and not one of those stadiums has any charm or soul in them.

But what exactly do I mean by soul? I'll describe for you what it's like at Hi-Corbett. First of all, Hi-Corbett is situated in the greenest part of Tucson, filled with huge trees and green grass and Tucson's Zoo is right next door to the field. Upon pulling up to the stadium you see that the parking lot is not really meant to house so many people and so you are likely forced to park along the road that leads to the stadium. It costs nothing to park alongside the road and everyone does it and luckily there is a long row of tall trees right next to it so that your car doesn't heat up whilst you watch the Rockies. While walking up to the stadium you pass by many normal city baseball fields and typically there are major leaguers there warming up in them. That's a pretty cool site in itself (seeing a major leaguer warming up on a little league field). Finally, upon going in Hi-Corbett you notice there's nothing spectacular about the stadium. It has a danky feel that you only get at a minor league field and yet it is clean and it is still professional and it has it's charms. Upon sitting in your seat and gazing out at the field itself you notice that there are some HUGE trees right behind the outfield fences (you can see these trees in the movie, "Major League", many times). It is a unique feature and quite cool. There's nothing else really eye-catching except the occasional A-10 Wart-hog flying only 500 feet overhead, due to Davis-Monthan AF Base not far away. In fact Mrs. Mendoza and I were lucky enough to have an airshow going on there whilst we were watching a game. And it's my opinion, that you've never really experienced baseball until you've seen an F117 Stealth Bomber buzz the field in the middle of a game. There's something very cool about seeing all the play in the field totally stop so that everyone can watch as that plane goes by.

Anyhow, we have no unique memories from any of the other newer Spring Training facilities and likely never will. The reason is simple: they are stale, soul-less hunks of concrete and plastic in horrible desert locations where there are no naturally-growing trees and there is no history and there probably never will be.
Lets home Rockies management doesn't do a knuckle-headed move, like move from Hi-Corbett.

Mendoza's 5280 (reasons to believe that Hi-Corbett's history and associated-story inspired the young "'Major League' Generation" of Rockies last year).