Former UA basketball player Kenny Lofton, second from left, gets some friendly ribbing from his new teammates on the Cleveland Indians during Spring Training at Hi Corbett Field in 1992. Photo by Rick Wiley / Tucson Citizen

Not much was said last week whenΒ Hank Peters, 90, died. He was the Cleveland Indians GM when the club decided to end a four-decade stay at Hi Corbett Field and move to Florida in 1992. That was another era, but also one that previewed what was to come β€” taking spring training for granted β€” when the D’backs, White Sox and Rockies moved to Phoenix. Peters’ office at Hi Corbett Field was in a small space under the grandstands; you had to duck to get safely inside. His most telling quote, when the Indians announced their Old Pueblo exit: β€œI have never met the mayor” of Tucson. And yet the Indians for 40 years had been Tucson’s link to the big time.Β 


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