Can’t travel for spring training?  Can’t find tickets or make it to Arizona in the spring?  Well, beginning in October, while most of us are focused on the playoffs, something really very special happens in the Phoenix area.  The Arizona Fall League pops up, consisting of six teams with minor league players affiliated with all 30 MLB teams.  Each MLB franchise is required to send 7 players of their choosing.  These might be players that they didn’t get enough at-bats this past season, or it might be stars that they just want to expose to some of the other best pitching in the game, to prepare them to join the majors the following season.

Unlike spring training though, these games are cheaper and the tickets are available.  It will be hard to form alliances, since players from different major league clubs are mixed on each of the six teams, but you will get to see some of the future players all in one place.  Consider that in 2009, Ike Davis, Jason Heyward, Chris Heisey, Mike Leake, Buster Posey, Mike Stanton, Drew Storen, Stephen Strasburg, Jose Tabata all appeared in the fall league.  That is like a rookie All-Star team.

You can get close to these players too.  They often sign autographs, and its just a very relaxed place to see games.  And because all the parks are close, its easy to get to each of the games.

If you just like the game of baseball, this is a really great, almost secret, way to get your fill.  The games begin in October, and stretch on until the week before Thanksgiving.

For more information, check out this Danny Wild piece, which links to each of the six AFL teams news and rosters.  (Isn’t Danny Wild  a great name for a baseball writer?)

And for detailed highlights of each team, of course, check out Baseball America’s Coverage.