Kurt Altman, the state director for Right on Crime, a group that pushes conservative solutions to reduce crime, went to college to play baseball, but he ended up an attorney whose career has taken him from facing down and defending criminals in county and federal courtrooms to lobbying for “Right to Try” legislation in 46 state Capitols.

Arizona is at the forefront of a new legislative effort to outlaw public dollars from financing private stadiums for professional sports teams.

Mario Enrique Diaz came to Arizona as a student with $20 in his pocket, and he has since worked basically every job in politics here. The Democratic consultant is now working as a civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army.

A gunman this morning opened fire at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, where Republican members of Congress were practicing, wounding U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the Associated Press and major news outlets reported.

Harry Westfall batted .493 that year. Affectionately known as ”Fat” for his hefty physique, he was an outstanding catcher who reputedly could throw a ball to second base on a line that never rose more than three feet off the ground—out of a crouch from home plate. Ray Stone went 8-2 in the regular season that year and pitched in both playoff games.

Eighteen years ago the Major League Baseball team moves into new stadium digs, known as cutting edge for its retractable roof and acknowledged as an economic magnet for the businesses built on blocks surrounding the facility in downtown Phoenix.

Greater Phoenix has increasingly become a destination for MLB teams to prepare for the season. Seven ballclubs called the Valley their spring training home in 2002.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson is urging baseball's All-Stars to speak out against the Arizona immigration law, saying they should follow the example set by Jackie Robinson when he broke the game's color barrier more than a half-century ago.

Sports and politics became intertwined when civil rights activists targeted the Super Bowl as they fought Arizona's refusal to observe the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday in the early 1990s.

Two decades later, Arizona is again caught in a tangle of balls and bills. The focal point this time is the state's illegal immigration laws, and the forum for dissent is Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.

And by that I mean the City of Mesa’s voters agreed to fund an $84 million training complex for the Chicago baseball institution, allowing the team to continue preparing for 30 more heartbreaking and frustrating seasons of futility.  Or maybe ...