Key Players

The beginning of every season all began in one place.

Hot Springs, Arkansas is well known as a health and recreation resort that attracts the rich and famous. That was certainly true in the late 1800s and well into the 20th century. The city had the finest hotels, lively nightclubs, a beautiful mountain setting, and the famous hot, healing water.

In 1886, Cap Anson brought his Chicago White Stockings (now the Cubs) to Hot Springs. The health spa with its famous hot mineral baths, the mountains, trails, hotels and activities in this bustling turn-of-the-century resort was the perfect place for something no one had ever heard of: annual spring training for professional baseball.

In time, five fields were built. Each spring as many as 250 players came here to train, including the legends of the game.

Follow The Hot Springs Baseball Trail and stand where the legends stood, where records were set, and where baseball itself was shaped. A brochure guide can be picked up at the Hot Springs Visitor Center downtown at Hill Wheatley Plaza, the Alligator Farm and Oaklawn Racetrack. You’ll find square, digital ‘codes,’ which your smartphone can link to historic photos, audio and more, and you can use your cell phone to hear stories of the golden age of baseball in Hot Springs.

These Hall of Fame Inductees trained here or had significant connections to Hot Springs.