Play Ball

Hours of Operation

10 am – 4 pm – Tuesday through Saturday
12 pm – 4 pm – Sunday

Admission

$6.50: Ages 1 year through Adults
FREE: Members and children under 1 year old
Group Rate: $5 per person

What to expect

Our second season of Play Ball: The Cactus League Experience has grown by an additional 600 square feet over last year’s exhibit and features interactive components including Wii “Backyard Baseball” and vintage films telling the Cactus League story. Fans who want more history will be able to use computer terminals in the exhibition to access www.playballexperience.com to read the most complete history of the league available anywhere.

Also new this year is a self-guided cell phone tour of the exhibition and several arts-based spaces for children including a “make your own pennant” station, a vintage baseball uniform dress up area, baseball books, puzzles, and more.

Visitors will be able to see a baseball-themed artwork from well known artists including Norman Rockwell and William Wegman, who feature the Cubs and Orioles great and Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson. Local student artists also have gotten into the act and have produced their own baseball art just for this exhibition. Finally, we bring back for a second year our visitors’ favorite Knot Hole fence, taking those who peek through any of dozens of knot holes on a trip around the Cactus League for a look at each stadium in Arizona.

Highlights from the collection on display include rare Seattle Pilots memorabilia, a Bob Feller autographed jersey, a door from Mesa’s old Hohokam Stadium signed by Chicago Cubs first baseman Mark Grace, items loaned by Hall of Fame pitcher and longtime Cactus Leaguer Gaylord Perry, rare photos and memorabilia from the New York Giants home away from home, the now shuttered Buckhorn Baths in Mesa, a Chicago Cubs toy collection, memorabilia from Cactus League stadiums, a 1920’s era barnstorming uniform, a Reggie Jackson autographed bat, and even a grapefruit signed by former Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa!