As the wind whips through my chimney and fireplace on a blustery Baltimore day, I’m really looking forward to the upcoming Cactus League season and its “new” three-year-old tradition of beginning a week sooner.

The 2020 Cactus League season officially opens with a single game between the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals at their shared Surprise StadiumFriday, Feb. 21.

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The first full slate of games begins the next day, Saturday, Feb. 22, and is highlighted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants opener at the recently renovated Scottsdale Stadium.

An iconic structure and historic point of geographical reference, Scottsdale Stadium received a $50 million spiffing up this off-season ensuring that the San Francisco Giants remain in Scottsdale for the next generation of fans through the spring of 2044.

Significant and immediately recognizable changes include a huge 10,000 square-foot new home-team clubhouse and year-round municipal event and conference center located along the right field line facing Osborn Road.

A mass transit and rideshare pickup and drop-off lane is part of the new Home Plate entrance which was formerly an open patio space and mini food court area at the corner of Osborn Road and Drinkwater Boulevard.

But the pièce de résistanceand crowning jewel on this, first of two scheduled rounds of renovations is the expansion of the Charros Lodge all-inclusive premium ballpark party just above the Giants bullpen and right field wall.

Most of the construction costs were covered by the city of Scottsdale, chipping in approximately $35 million of eventual tax revenues for the first phase of renovations. The Giants paid $15 million and, the Scottsdale Charros civic organization also contributed $2.7 million while the Arizona Sports concessionaire company also invested approximately $2.5 million.

There has always been something storied and romantic about the baseball fans of Fountain Hills’ relationship with Scottsdale Stadium; perhaps because of the original ballpark’s proximity when the town of Fountain Hills was founded in 1972. Back then there were no Hohokam Park or Salt River Fields located in the nearby East Valley. The next closest ballparks were Phoenix Municipal Stadium and Rendezvous Park in Mesa, and neither one was the same easy ride down Beeline Highway directly to Scottsdale.

Scottsdale Stadium’s ongoing nostalgic appeal can also be tied to its more than 50-year history as a spring training venue for five major league teams and home to the Giants’ minor league Phoenix Firebirds from 1992-1997.

For the reasons mentioned above and the fact that the Giants are opening the season against the seven-consecutive NL West division champion and heated rival Los Angeles Dodgers makes this the most attractive game on the Cactus League schedule’s first full day of games.

In perhaps the biggest off-season trade or acquisition by any team, the Dodgers acquired four-time All-Star and 2018 MVP outfielder Mookie Betts and starting pitcher David Price from the Boston Red Sox. The Dodgers already look like a lock to win the NL West for the eighth straight season. The Giants, on the other hand, would like to snap out of the doldrums they have been mired in for the past three seasons. Fan favorite Pablo Sandoval was released outright from his contract in 2019 and the Giants paid a $5 million buyout on the one season remaining on his contract before re-signing him to a minor league deal/tryout for the 2020 season.

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On Sunday Feb. 23, I’ll be heading to Tempe Diablo Stadium where the Los Angeles Angels open at home against the Colorado Rockies. Originally opened in 1969, Diablo Stadium is now the longest continually operational ballpark in the Cactus League.

The Haloes made one of major league’s biggest off-season splashes signing 2019 World Series hero and former Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon to a seven-year $245 million contract. Slugging outfielder Joc Pederson, coming off a career-high 36 home run season was also acquired in a trade with the cross-town/cross-league Dodgers.

Looking to bounce back from a second consecutive fourth place finish, the Angels also signed former Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon to a three-year deal worth between $12-$15 million.

The Rockies had a relatively uneventful off-season but took a flyer on 36-year-old veteran but inactive hurler Ubaldo Jiménez, who has not thrown a major league pitch in two seasons since being released by the Baltimore Orioles at the conclusion of 2017. Jiménez had one of the best seasons by a Colorado Rockies pitcher in the team’s history going 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA in 2010 and is the author of the franchise’s only no-hitter in 2007.

With much loftier expectations, the mile-high Colorado Rockies finished a disappointing fourth place in the NL West. There was speculation that the team might take a rebuilding path and trade third baseman Nolan Arenado who just signed an eight-year $260 million contract prior to the beginning of last season, but as of this writing Arenado remains with the Rockies.

In his third major league season Japanese pitcher and designated hitter and 2018 AL Rookie of the Year Shohei Ohtani is returning to the mound after recovering from Tommy John surgery and not pitching at all last season.

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After emerging as a surprising front runner in the NL West in 2018, the Milwaukee Brewers slipped back into second place and lost the 2019 Wild Card play-in game to the eventual World Series champion Washington Nationals. The Brewers play the continually surprising Oakland A’s, Monday Feb. 24, at Hohokam Stadium, where the A’s have re-identified with the ballpark after reclaiming the historic location from the Chicago Cubs in 2015.

Outfielder Christian Yelich suffered a season-ending fractured kneecap on Sept. 10 but almost won a second consecutive NL MVP Award finishing in second place just behind L.A. Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger. Yelich led the NL with a .329 batting average, .671 slugging percentage and 1.100 OPS.

A’s starting pitcher Mike Fiers, posted a career-best 15-4 record with a 3.90 ERA and blew the lid off the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, sparking what should be a heated AL West rivalry throughout the upcoming 2020 season.

Both the A’s and Brewers offer fantastically affordable full-season ticket packages. The Brewers offer a “lawn pass” to all 17 games at American Family Fields Park in Maryvale for just $29. The A’s have a guaranteed general admission ticket to all 16 home games at Hohokam for $69.

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The Chicago White Sox improved by 10 games, moved up to third place in the AL Central and appear to be on the brink of contention this season acquiring veteran lefty hurler Dallas Keuchel and re-signing franchise cornerstone José Abreu. Shortstop Tim Anderson enjoyed a break-out campaign capturing the AL batting crown with a .335 average.

The White Sox visit the division rival Cleveland Indians at the Goodyear Ballpark Tuesday, Feb. 25. Cleveland slipped to second place after three-straight division titles and the window of opportunity to reach the World Series with the current squad intact appears to be closing. Four-time All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor is in the final year of his contract and has been the subject of trade rumors throughout the off-season as the team has cut payroll but remained on the roster in the week before the first days of the spring training season.

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In the I-10 version of the “Freeway Series,” the Los Angeles Angels visit the Los Angeles Dodgers at Camelback Ranch in Glendale in their only Cactus League matchup Wednesday, Feb. 26.

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Emerging from the NL Central cellar for the first time in five seasons an improved-looking Cincinnati Reds were big players in the off-season signing slugging third baseman Mike Moustakas and outfielder Nick Castellanos, both to four-year $64 million contracts and veteran Japanese outfielder Shogo Akiyama to a three-year $21 million deal.

The Reds visit the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Thursday, Feb. 27. Despite the Dodgers’ recent run of dominance, the Diamondbacks have remained competitive contenders in the NL West for the past three seasons and have enhanced their roster with the acquisition of outfielder Starling Marte and starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Entering its 10th season, Salt River Fields was recently named the best spring training ballpark of the decade by the Ball Park Digest website.

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After reaching the pinnacle of the 2016 World Series championship and four consecutive post-season appearances, the Chicago Cubs slumped to an 84-78 third place finish in 2019 and have entered a re-tooling process beginning with the hiring of new manager David Ross.

Consistently the Cactus League leader in average home game attendance at Sloan Park, the Chicago Cubs also draw big crowds on the road and should pack the house for their matchup with the San Diego Padres at the Peoria Sports Complex on Friday, Feb. 28. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, the Peoria Sports Complex was at the forefront of the Cactus League’s expansion into the West Valley when it opened as the shared home of the Padres and Seattle Mariners in 1994.

Padres shortstop Fernando Tatís, Jr., emerged as one of baseball’s rising young stars, knocking 22 home runs with 53 RBI and a .317 batting average in just 84 games before being sidelined for the remainder of the season with a stress reaction in his lower back in August.

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While the Kansas City Royals floundered to a 59-103 fourth place finish just four years removed from the team’s 2015 W.S. championship, slugging designated hitter Jorge Soler quietly clubbed a American League-leading, career-high 48 home runs with 117 RBI and a .922 OPS while playing in all 162 games on the schedule.

The Royals will face the Seattle Mariners at the Peoria Sports Complex Saturday, Feb. 29. The fourth-place Mariners remain in a perennial re-building mode with a crop of young outfield prospects vying for starting time. With two-and-half full seasons under his belt, centerfielder Mallex Smith, 26, is the most experienced of the group and led the American League with 46 stolen bases in 2019.

Other games of note on the 2020 Cactus League schedule include:

- The Cleveland Indians and Oakland A’s have a two-game series in Las Vegas Feb. 29 and March 1.

- Angels vs. Cubs at Joe Maddon’s return to Sloan Park as a visiting manager on Monday, March 2.

- The Giants at the Dodgers in a night game at Camelback Ranch March 4.

- The battle of the Windy City between the White Sox and Cubs at Sloan Park on March 6, with a rematch at Camelback Ranch on March 13.

- The S.F. Giants and Cleveland Indians pairing the Cactus League’s founding franchises at the Goodyear Ballpark on March 9.

- Bay area rival Oakland A’s and S.F. Giants meet at Scottsdale Stadium on Thursday, March 19.