For more than 50 years baseball fans from around the country have been flocking in droves to bask in the Southwest's most comfortable season and watch major leaguers engage in their annual rite of spring at ballparks surrounded by desert scenery. Cities like Scottsdale, Tucson, Tempe, and Mesa are popular resort locales year-round, but Cactus League baseball is a big reason why March has become the height of Arizona's vacation season.

Fans enjoy the luxury of most of the ballparks being close to each other. Currently, 10 major league teams hold spring training in Arizona (with two more scheduled to arrive in 2003). Seven teams play their home games in the greater Phoenix area and three in Tucson. Here's a look at the stadiums:

TUCSON ELECTRIC PARK. The "expansion" Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox (formerly spring-based in Florida) entered into a partnership at this new park in 1998. A spectacular view of the Santa Catalina Mountain range expands beyond the outfield wall to the deepest reaches of fair territory and what appears to be the end of the world. Because the park is shared by two teams, there's a game being played just about every day on the Cactus League schedule.

HI CORBETT FIELD. Since 1947, Tucson's Hi Corbett Field hasn't missed a season. Originally the home of the Cleveland Indians, Hi Corbett has been the only spring home of the Colorado Rockies since the team joined the majors in 1993. Although it has undergone extensive renovations since the Rockies moved in, Hi Corbett, the former home of the Tucson Toros, retains a decidedly minor league ambience. Baseball movie buffs know the original Hi Corbett was used for the spring training scenes in the movie Major League.

SCOTTSDALE STADIUM. Of the current group of ballparks, more teams have played their home games in Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale than any other Cactus League venue. The park was originally opened by the Baltimore Orioles in 1956 and has also been home to the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Oakland A's, and San Francisco Giants. Remodeled in 1992, it has been home to the Giants since 1984. Designed by the architectural firm responsible for Baltimore's Camden Yards, Scottsdale's red brick and green awning ball yard was among the forerunners of the country's ballpark renaissance of the early 1990s.