When the politicians debated where to build a spring training facility for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox, political allies Raul Grijalva, Steve Leal and Dan Eckstrom insisted on an Ajo Way and South Country Club site and fought against a stadium near Interstate 10 downtown.
"We are potentially setting up a jewel," Grijalva said on May 31, 1996. "Itβs a place that will automatically attract people, whether itβs for services or entertainment. Weβre establishing the magnet and the interest."
That interest was never developed. The Kino Sports Complex was not a jewel but an out-of-the-way bust. Tucson no longer has spring training or minor-league baseball.Β
