Tim Wiles, researcher, Baseball Hall of Fame: There is no reason. I'm afraid that just won't do, Tim. Well, it is rather springlike down south, so maybe it's wishful thinking. Answer Guy don't truck with "maybes." Paul Dickson, author, The Dickson Baseball Dictionary: "Spring training" first appears in print in 1905, but it was surely in use before then. Any idea where it comes from? No. Sadly our memories are imperfect when it comes to language. Word. Maybe they're not training in spring, maybe they're training for spring. Again with the "maybes." John Thorn, editor, Total Baseball: I'm afraid the answer is not very interesting. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Early on, the season didn't start until the end of April. Training would've started later too. And? Well, it would've started in spring. That's not very interesting. Told ya. There is some controversy as to how spring training originated, though. Now we're talkin'. Teams first started heading south around 1870, to New Orleans. Sweet Lady Gumbo! Uh-huh. But those trips may have been more about barnstorming than getting ready for the season. Laissez les bon temps roulez! For a long time, Cap Anson's 1886 trip to Hot Springs, Ark., with the White Stockings was thought to be the first incidence of preseason training. Ed Hartig, Chicago Cubs historian: Springs was a popular training site until the early '20s. It was said that players would go to the Springs to "boil off the alcoholic microbes." Wait -- that's it! Thorn: What's it? They trained in Hot Springs! So? Hot Springs training. I seriously doubt there's a connection. Well, that's just too bad.

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