Television personality and AZfoothills.com columnist Nadine Toren is scouring the area, finding savvy Valley features, bringing readers “on the scene.”  Every day she’ll introduce you to celebrities, athletes, and give you an inside look into local events and hot spots.  She'll touch on topical issues, and keep AZ fans posted on all the big talkers around town.

For the first time ever, they’re coming home for Spring Training.

Yes, our beloved D-Backs are back in action, this time preparing for a Major League season in our own backyard.

“It’s the finest baseball facility I’ve ever seen,” said Dave Dunne, General Manager of Salt River Fields.

Forget Christmas, for many Phoenix-area guys and gals this is the most wonderful time of the year.  Why?  Because the Valley is in baseball bliss as Spring Training takes off.

This time around, you can catch our home-town guys hitting homers at Salt River Fields, the new, multi-million dollar state-of-the-art training grounds for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.

“Fans will be able to get up-close to the baseball experience pretty much unlike any other complex,” said Dunne.

Meet Dave Dunne, General Manager of Salt River Fields.

He comes from quite a background, having run the Chicago Cubs training facility for many years.

However, he took on this project back in 2009, when Salt River Fields was merely a dream.