Word: florida
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...word that means "great land." And no one who has ever seen Alaska's panoramic peaks, its rushing rivers and teeming wildlife would argue with that description. Alaska is great in beauty, in majesty and in sheer size. If laid atop the lower 48 states, it would stretch from Florida to California. The territory that was once called Seward's Folly is rich almost beyond comprehension in oil, coal, timber and fish. Alaska is truly America's last frontier, a place of wonder that is virtually unspoiled and a priceless treasure that is largely unspent...
Long before there was a Magic Kingdom, Florida was an enchanted land, a place where the vernal verities of spring training stopped time in its tracks. A recent preseason game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds in Plant City reassured like a Norman Rockwell painting: in some ways, things haven't changed. Bats are swinging, and all's right with the nation. The rituals that are played out in Florida and Arizona from early March into April are part of baseball's enduring legacy, and generations of Northerners have taken refuge here in the balmy revels...
...thanks to cable television, which beams preseason games back home, and to attractions such as Disney World, which draws millions of affluent tourists to Florida, spring training is becoming big business. That approach could threaten the easy charm of the national pastime, but so far, the sport seems to be succeeding on both offense and defense...
Elaborate facilities and swelling crowds are transforming spring training. The New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals have moved into new and slicker stadiums since 1987. In 1982 only 778,000 fans visited the 18 teams that train in Florida; last year the number nearly doubled, to 1.3 million; an even higher total is expected for 1989. Similar gains have been made in Arizona's cactus league, where eight teams work...
Other time-honored spring rituals take place at the fences. The wives and children of players often come out to games in Florida. Babies are dandled at the chain link, to be smooched by unshaven dads wearing polyester knickers and adorned with smears of soot under their eyes. Unmarried rookies attract wilder rail birds. Young women wearing shrink-wrapped slacks call hello to bullpen inmates; dates are made and possibly kept...