|
|||
The boys of Spring Training
 |
COURTESY OF KISSIMMEE/ST. CLOUD CVB |
With
many of us waiting anxiously for winter months to be only a mere memory
and spring flowers beginning to bloom - it could only mean one thing -
baseball season! Get ready to cheer on your favorite players, eat some
good old-fashioned hotdogs and maybe even meet a player or two at these
spring training venues.
Dates for each team usually begin mid-February. However fans should contact
the individual stadium for exact dates and ticket prices.
Atlanta Braves - Orlando
407-939-GAME
www.atlantabraves.com
Dust off your tomahawk and head on down to Cracker Jack Stadium (formerly
Disney Field and Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando). Known as one
of the flashier stadiums for spring training, Cracker Jack is also the
largest with 9,500 seats, and with 80 per cent between the first and third
bases. If you find the grandstand seating too confining, get to the game
early and score some of the berm seating down the left-field line and
across the outfield to the scoreboard.
Baltimore Orioles - Fort Lauderdale
954-828-4980
www.orioles.com
Fort Lauderdale Stadium has been noted as being one of the oldest ball
stadiums still in use. With 8,340 seats, the Orioles have been searching
for a replacement field for some time now, due to disrepair of the current
field and grandstands. One plan still under consideration is for the Orioles
to move to the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport or where the Oriole minors
play in Sarasota. However, to date, nothing has been finalized for the
team.
 |
| Visit the Yankee's "winter home" - Legends Field Tampa |
941-954-4101
www.cincinnatireds.com
The Reds are fairly new to Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota after moving from Plant City in 1998. With 7,500 seats (6,500 in the bleachers) the stadium was a natural choice for the team. Administrators finalized their decision in September 2004 when they signed a two-year development contract with the stadium. "We're pleased to be associated with a Florida State League team based out of Sarasota," said Reds general manager Dan O'Brien. "We're excited to have so much of our minor league operations consolidated in one city."
Detroit Tigers - Lakeland
863-686-8075
www.detroittigers.com
Tiger Town in Lakeland is a spring training institution. These boys from the Motor City have been bringing their game to Lakeland since 1934 and have been playing in Joker Marchant Stadium since 1966. After last year's $11-million renovation, the new concourse features renovated restrooms, re-themed concessions and vibrant graphics and signage. Combined with the existing 2,863 seats in the third base grandstand, the stadium's new capacity has increased to 8,000. The addition of 900 seats does not include an estimated 500 lawn seats out on the berm where fans are hoping to soak up the sun, relax and catch a few home run balls.
 |
| Family
fun cheering |
321-697-3201
www.houstonastros.com
Newly renovated in 2003, Osceola County Stadium has been the spring training center for the Astros since 1985 when the team shifted facilities from Cocoa. The $18.4 million in renovations to Osceola County Stadium and Complex increased the stadium capacity to more than 5,200 seats with the addition of another 300 seats, and installed all armchair seating, a new press box and separate major and minor league clubhouses with state-of-the-art training facilities. Other fan-friendly features include "Autograph Alley" and a party deck for private functions.
LA Dodgers - Vero Beach
772-569-4900
www.ladodgers.com
Dodgertown is the most storied spring training site in the league and these West Coast players have been training at Holmon Stadium for 56 years! When the Dodgers administrators began reconstruction of the stadium in 1972, they designed a 23,000-square-foot administration building, broadcasting studio, lounge and media room.
Today Dodgertown includes 27 holes of golf, 70 acres of citrus groves and a residential development.
Something unique to Dodger fans is the lack of advertisements in the outfield or dugouts, as the Dodgers pride themselves on focusing on baseball.
Minnesota Twins - Fort Myers
239-768-4279
www.minnesotatwins.com
These boys call the Lee County Sports Complex their spring home away from home. The Twins have trained in Florida since their days as the Washington Senators: 1936 to the present (except for the war years of 1943-45 when the team trained in College Park, Maryland). Most of those years were spent training in Orlando (1936 through 1990) while their minor league teams trained in Melbourne from 1964-1989. The minor and major league camps were combined in Lee County in 1990.
Montreal Expos - Melbourne
321-633-9200
www.montrealexpos.com
There's no mistaking Space Coast Stadium as you approach it from the north or the south. Looming over the Florida landscape, the stadium seems like a spaceship that's landing in the middle of nowhere. It sits above the flat Florida landscape, shining brightly with its white exterior and silver grandstand. To add to the excitement of the stadium, when an Expos player hits a home run, smoke spews from a baseball rising above the scoreboard like a rocket lifting off to space. The stadium signage is designed to look futuristic as well; however, in contrast to the futurism, the stadium offers one of the few hand-operated scoreboards in spring training leagues.
New York Mets - Port St. Lucie
772-871-2100
www.newyorkmets.com
Thomas J. White Stadium recently underwent a transition: last year, the field received a multi-million-dollar renovation that added more seating and clubhouse space. In fact, by the time the New York Mets play their first 2005 spring training game, fans will find themselves within an entirely new stadium, called Tradition Field.
New York Yankees - Tampa
813-875-7753
www.newyorkyankees.com
George Steinbrenner isn't afraid to spend money and Legends Field is an example of money spent well. It's basically a miniature Yankee Stadium with the outfield fences being the same dimensions as those in Yankee Stadium. The grandstand has two levels and comprises most of the seating in the stadium. Decorative elements ring the grandstand exactly like those found at Yankee Stadium, and Monument Park, which honors former Yankee greats, is located behind the grandstand.
Philadelphia Phillies Clearwater
727-442-8496
www.philadelphiaphillies.com
The Philadelphia Phillies have been training in Clearwater since 1947 and at Jack Russell Stadium from 1955 through 2003. The Phillies made their 2004 debut in the Brighthouse Network Field, adjacent to Old Coachman Road at the Joe DiMaggio Field complex, signing a 20-year agreement to continue training in the city of Clearwater.
Pittsburgh Pirates - Bradenton
941-748-4610
www.pittsburghpirates.com
The Pirates have been training in Bradenton and playing games at McKechnie Park for 34 years. Though there has been baseball played at McKechnie Field since 1923, it's actually one of the newer stadiums in Florida spring training as the facility was completely rebuilt in 1993. McKechnie Field is a very basic park in other ways: it doesn't have a parking lot (all the available parking is street parking in the surrounding neighborhood) and it doesn't have any lights, so all home games are day games. No other teams play in McKechnie Field the rest of the year and the Pirates don't actually train there. The team trains at Pirate City, five miles away from McKechnie Field.
St. Louis Cardinals - Jupiter
561-775-1818
www.stlouiscardinals.com
The St. Louis Cardinals have trained at Roger Dean Stadium since it opened in 1998. The Montreal Expos trained there from 1998 through 2002, and in 2003 the Florida Marlins began training there. Roger Dean Stadium is one of the newer stadiums in the league, opening in February 1998 with a total capacity of 7,000. The entire complex includes four major league practice fields and eight minor league practice fields.
Toronto Blue Jays - Dunedin
727-733-9302
www.torontobluejays.com
Considering the Toronto Blue Jays have now been around for 25 years, it's fairly remarkable that the team has had only one spring training site in team history - Grant Park in Dunedin, recently renamed Knology Park. In 2002, Dunedin spent $12 million on a new complex for the Blue Jays, which included a new training facility, offices, new hitting cages and five full fields at the Cecil P. Englebert Recreational Complex. As a result, the Blue Jays signed a 15-year lease to stay in Dunedin, as well as committing the Dunedin Blue Jays (Class A; Florida State League) to the ballpark. -