The Girl Who Saved the Cactus League
When Rose Mofford played softball for the Glendale Cantaloupe Queens as a young woman, she likely had no idea that her love of baseball, nurtured by her father while growing up in Globe, AZ, would someday lead her as Governor of Arizona to save the Cactus League from poaching by rival spring training boosters in Florida. But that is exactly what happened in 1988, as teams began to look east for places to conduct spring training.
Mofford’s story, from her time as a women’s professional softball player to her efforts as Governor on behalf of the Cactus League, is detailed in a new collection of photos, documents and objects now on display in the Play Ball exhibit at the Arizona Museum for Youth in downtown Mesa, AZ.
The former Governor, still active in community and civic affairs, helped kick off the second season of Play Ball by attending a preview event Thursday night, and pledged to continue her support for the League even as history is repeating itself with the campaign to keep the Chicago Cubs from leaving Mesa for Florida when the team’s lease expires in a few years.
