Unbeknownst to many, the origin story of baseball’s spring training runs through Hot Springs, Arkansas, not far from our own home base.  

From the 1880s through the 1930s, many major-league teams sent their players to Hot Springs to “dry out” and take advantage of the area’s renowned therapeutic mineral baths. Famous players who were regulars in the Spa City included Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Honus Wagner and even Jackie Robinson.

Larry Foley, a journalism professor at the University of Arkansas, created a documentary about Hot Springs as a spring-training destination called First Boys of Spring. More about the film and the city’s baseball history is available at PorterBriggs.com. 

An excerpt:

Baseball’s spring training can trace part of its origins story to Hot Springs, Arkansas, as those who follow the Spa City’s numerous historical markers and Arkansas history buffs likely already knew…

…Baseball icons who trained in the Spa City include Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Smoky Joe Wood, Honus Wagner, Satchel Page, and even Jackie Robinson, who broke the major league color barrier in 1947. In fact, Major League Baseball estimates that roughly half of the enshrinees in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, participated in spring training in Hot Springs.

Good stuff. Read the whole post here.