Cactus League Hall of Fame Trustees, made up of Cactus League board members and community leaders, selected the 2026 class:
- Ichiro, an outfielder, spent the bulk of his 19-year MLB career with the Seattle Mariners. When he arrived for spring training at Peoria Sports Complex in 2001, officials had to create an overflow space to accommodate the throngs of Japanese media who followed him to the desert. Ichiro won both the American League MVP and Rookie of the Year that season, embarking on a career that led to his induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame last summer.
- Konerko graduated from Chaparral High School, where he was named 1994 Arizona High School Player of the Year in his senior season. Drafted as a catcher that summer by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Konerko soon moved to first base. After the 1998 season, Konerko joined the Chicago White Sox, who trained in Tucson before moving to Camelback Ranch-Glendale. He was a six-time All Star in 16 years on the South Side and helped lead the White Sox to the 2005 World Series title.
- Baker has long ties to the Cactus League. He managed three Cactus League clubs – the San Francisco Giants (1993-2002), the Chicago Cubs (2003-06) and the Cincinnati Reds (2008-13). Baker won two division titles in San Francisco and led the Giants to the National League pennant in 2002; he also won a division title in Chicago and two more in Cincinnati. Before becoming a manager, Baker played outfield for 19 years, wrapping up his career in the Cactus League with San Francisco in 1984 and Oakland in 1985 and 1986.
- Brenly has had a long association with the Cactus League, beginning as a San Francisco Giants catcher/infielder from 1981-89; after retiring as a player, he joined the Giants’ coaching staff and served under Baker for three years. In 1998, Brenly became a broadcaster for the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks. Three years later, Brenly moved from the booth to the dugout, piloting the D-backs to the 2001 World Series title in his first year as manager. He also won a division title the following season.
- A longtime government executive, Gonsher played a key role in the effort to save the Cactus League, whose existence was threatened in the late 1980s by a lack of public support for facilities. As a policy advisor to former Arizona Gov. Rose Mofford, Gonsher established the Governor’s Special Task Force on Cactus League Baseball, providing policy advice and directing the state’s activities with team representatives, city officials, local communities and booster groups. Those efforts eventually led to the passage of Prop. 302, which provided public funding to assist with Cactus League facility construction and renovation.
