It was a fan's dream, a player's respite and a sportswriter's greatest wish when out on the road. Tom Meehan at the Fresno Bee proclaimed it would "probably become the eighth wonder of the world." Sid Ziff called it "the jewel of the desert." And the spread they offered was so great that Prescott Sullivan stopped there twice just to make sure the buffet was up to snuff.

It was the Francisco Casa Grande and Motor Inn and it was, for about 20 seasons, Spring Training heaven. Though there's no more baseball played in Casa Grande, Ariz., there are relics that stand like the fossilized remains of a mid-century fever dream.

While half of MLB teams now call Arizona its Spring Training home, that wasn't always the case. Cleveland owner Bill Veeck had persuaded the Giants to join them in moving to Arizona in 1947 to start the Cactus League, but only six teams played there in the early '60s -- even dropping to just two by 1965.

But Giants owner Horace Stoneham saw the future -- and he wanted to merge a favorite vacation spot with his baseball team. So, when the city of Casa Grande, a small town with a population of about 50,000 today but only around 8,500 at the time, offered him nearly two miles of land for free, he made a simple decision: The Giants' Minor League training facilities were coming to the town.

"We are a true western club and because of the money involved in traveling, we decided to move lock, stock, and barrel into the West," Stoneham said. "It's just a matter of economics."

When it first opened in 1961, it wasn't quite the spectacle tourists would soon see. At first, the Casa Grande was just the latest and greatest Minor League facility in baseball. There was dormitory-style housing for 192 players, bleachers to hold about 3,000 fans and four baseball fields on the property, allowing eight Giants Minor League clubs to play at once. Stoneham was so enthusiastic about the prospects of playing there that he rushed the final weeks of construction so that it could open on time. Though the Major League team would continue to play its games about an hour's drive away in Phoenix, this was the central hub for all the Giants' youngsters.

"Call this a Minor League camp?" San Francisco baseball legend Lefty O'Doul asked. "No Major League club ever had such a grand layout."

The property soon became so much more than a mere cost-saving effort, though. With Stoneham putting in somewhere between $2.5 to $4.5 million (roughly $25-$40 million today), the Hotel and Motor Inn opened the following year. Constructed to resemble rows of a stadium concourse, the top of the building featured a roof that even had a small baseball brim-esque overhang to provide shade. There was an 18-hole golf course with the longest fairways in the state, a three-acre lake stocked with fish, plans to build an airplane landing strip and, best of all, a pool in the shape of a bat and a ball. Even the parking lot resembled a mitt.

The Giants didn't skimp on the interiors, either. Styled in mid-century modern decor, the lobby and rooms were replete with orange and black furniture -- ensuring that all guests knew just which team had its HQ in Casa Grande. Though the Major Leaguers never played an exhibition game at the nearby fields, they enjoyed training in the morning before hitting the golf courses and hotel bar in the afternoon and evening.

John Wayne and Pat Boone even became frequent guests, though Wayne wasn't there strictly for the sport.

"I have a cotton field down the road a few miles," Wayne said, "and I thought I'd drop by and see some baseball. The ranch made good money last year and I took a few days to look it over. Always enjoy seeing America's pastime, too."

Unfortunately, the long-term plans for the resort hit a snag. A planned freeway near Casa Grande was eventually scrapped, leading to long and difficult commutes for both tourists and players. While the area may have worked for a Minor League camp, it couldn't turn the profit that Stoneham hoped for. The Giants stayed there through 1981, when the Angels moved in for the next two seasons, splitting their time between Casa Grande and an alternate site in Palm Springs, Calif. After that, with the facilities starting to show their age, the baseball teams moved away -- the Giants to Scottsdale and the Halos to Tempe -- ending Casa Grande's run as a baseball destination.

These days, the Francisco Grande still stands, but it is known more for its impeccably maintained golf courses. The cap bill still sits atop the building, photos of the Giants and Angels line the lobby and bar, and the pool is still in the shape of a bat and ball. Even the road around the complex is still called Candlestick Dr. But the fields are gone, having been razed first for USFL training grounds and later soccer fields.

The Giants may be gone, but professional teams still come through. Grande Sports World has hosted Major League Soccer teams and five national clubs, and it's is even the home of the Arizona academy for Spanish soccer giant Barcelona. It may not be what Horace Stoneham dreamed up all those years ago, but if sports and sun are on your agenda, there are certainly worse places to be.