grapefruit league

American  

noun

Baseball Informal.

1. a series of training games played by major-league teams before the opening of the season (so named because they take place in the citrus-growing South, as in Florida).

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Etymology

Origin of grapefruit league

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

He is starting late and missing the primaries, but he dismisses those as "spring training, the grapefruit league," necessary only for those who need to build a national reputation.

From Time Magazine Archive

The sourest chords in the grapefruit league were being struck by sometime Yankee Superstar Roger Moris, 27, who had yet to hit his first homer of the spring.

From Time Magazine Archive