Take me out to the ball game

AVALON—In honor of baseball opening day on March 26, here’s some history about one of America’s favorite pastimes on Catalina Island. According to the Catalina Chamber, the Chicago Cubs first visited Catalina Island in 1920, kicking off what would be three decades of spring training on the island. By the middle of the ‘20s, William Wrigley, Jr. had built a spring training field that matched the dimensions of Chicago’s Wrigley Field and by the end of that decade; he had also constructed a clubhouse that would eventually become the Catalina Island Country Club. Catalina served as the Cubs’ spring training location until 1952, when Mesa, Arizona was chosen to become the team’s new training ground.

Catalina Chamber of Commerce photo